_WORLD WATCH______________________________
____________________ Germany ________________

One bishop continues abortion counseling
Direct defiance of Vatican policy
Bishop Franz Kamphaus of Limburg is the only one of the 27 German bishops who continues openly to defy the Vatican by persisting in offering counseling certificates to pregnant women, who can use those certificates to fill one of the legal requirements for obtaining an abortion.

While other dioceses have refused to offer the certificates—thus placing themselves outside the official system of government-approved counseling centers, Bishop Kamphaus remains defiant. And his insistence on the continuation of his diocesan policy has won support from the German government and from dissident Catholics.

After years of wrangling over the issue, the German bishops finally agreed in November 1999 that counseling centers sponsored by the Catholic Church should not provide the certificates that women could use to obtain abortions. While accepting the decision of Pope John Paul, the bishops allowed for an extended period of transition; they set a deadline of December 31, 2001 for the implementation of the new policy.

When that deadline passed, however, counseling centers in Limburg were still providing the certificates. Bishop Kamphaus adamantly held to the argument that if women knew they could not receive the certificates, they would not come to the Catholic counselors—and those counselors would thus miss an opportunity to talk them out of aborting their children. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that at a Mass on New Year’s Eve, Kamphaus was introduced as a “pro-life bishop”—a characterization which drew hearty applause from the congregation.

Bishop Kamphaus has been heavily criticized by some Catholics for his public defiance of Rome. Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, papal nuncio in Germany, last year revealed the contents of a letter in which Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, explained, “Whoever continues to operate in the system of counseling centers is placed in open opposition to the Pope.” But Bishop Kamphaus remarked, in a statement worthy of a Protestant reformer: “Conscience can oblige the individual to acts that are in contradiction of Church teachings . . . . It is the responsibility of the individual alone.”

TV ads removed
Christian campaign falls under anti-sect ban
The state broadcasting commission in Germany has banned commercial TV stations from airing ads promoting a free book which encourages Christianity. Reporting the decision, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung observed that the country’s broadcasting regulations prohibit advertising by political, religious, and ideological groups. Germany’s actions against such initiatives were normally limited to individual sects, however; the ads in question do not promote any sect or denomination, but encourage viewers to consider Christianity generally.

The advertising campaign, a project of the American-based Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, had the backing of such notables as British pop singer Cliff Richard, German world-class golfer Bernhard Langer, Prince Philip of Prussia (the great grandson of the last German emperor), and soccer star Paulo Sergio. Their conversion stories are contained in a free 134-page book titled Kraft zum Leben (“Strength for Life”) which is being promoted in Germany through a $4.4 million print, TV, and billboard ad campaign. Ned McDonald, a spokesman for the DeMoss Foundation said:

All we want to do is to give this book away, which has the message of salvation that is straight from the Bible. We are not trying to get in the way of the Catholic Church or the Protestant church. We make a strong point of going to a Bible-believing church.

Thomas Gandow, who conducts investigations of sects for the Protestant church in the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, frowned on the DeMoss Foundation for its record of involvement in the American pro-life movement. He said, “The foundation has very strong contacts with Jerry Falwell, a leading figure of the American Christian right. In 1999, it broadcast a series of television commercials in the US carrying the message: ‘Life. What a beautiful choice.’”

Back to Catholic World Report February 2002 Table of Contents