Ban on religious services: religion and politics work on concept

Representatives of religious communities and churches want to work with the federal government and the states in the coming days to develop a concept for the gradual easing of restrictions in the corona crisis.

This should then be the basis for later decisions, said a spokesman for the federal ministry of the interior in berlin. To protect against the spread of the novel coronavirus, church services with believers were also banned.

Previously, secretary of state markus kerber had spoken with representatives of religious communities. Representatives of the catholic and protestant churches, orthodox christians, the jewish central council and the muslim coordination council, as well as representatives of three german states, were present.

Only on wednesday, the federal government and the federal states agreed that communal religious services will continue to be prohibited. On 30. In april, chancellor angela merkel (CDU) will again consult with the minister-presidents.

"The religious representatives have made it clear that they have supported these measures from the beginning, which were very drastic for the people," said the spokesman for the interior ministry. It was agreed that ways had to be found to gradually normalize religious life, while complying with health and infection control requirements. The chairman of the german bishops’ conference, georg batzing, had criticized the ban on religious services in advance as incomprehensible.