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Catholics and the elections of 18 September” “” “
The Central Committee of German Catholics (Zdk), on the occasion of the early general elections of the Bundestag due to be held on 18 September, has stressed that Germany today is in a situation of deep general crisis. Consequently the Committee asks for the indispensable reforms to ensure serenity and security within the country. Firmly consolidated mass unemployment, the dramatic deficits in state expenditure, and the excessive claims of the social security systems in view of the considerable demographic decline, are threatening social cohesion. The State cannot hope or claim to do everything: that is why the ZdK urges that personal initiatives and the responsibility of social groups and individual citizens be stimulated and promoted, with a view to the active participation of civil society in public life. From the State the ZdK expects a precise commitment to pursuing the objectives of social and economic cohesion, security and growth. Reforms inspired by criteria of solidarity and subsidiarity are also needed: they are the sign of a State attentive to the needs of the more vulnerable. Apart from its own expectations and proposals aimed at reinforcing the welfare state, one of the main issues and sources of debate between the parties in the electoral campaign, the ZdK has made a series of further reflections and proposals aimed at solving problems that have so far received scant consideration but that ought to form part of the list of priorities on the agenda of the new Parliament and of the future government: a family policy that takes account of the foundation of marriage; the recognition of the volunteer services as the basis for a society of active citizens; respect for the dignity of the person and the defence of human life in all its phases; the improvement of educational conditions and the expansion of the universities; the promotion of the integration of immigrants and of inter-religious dialogue; the realization of the UN Millennium objectives through the reinforcement of a policy of development aimed at the elimination of poverty; and the renewal of the project of European unification by fostering the spiritual and ethical foundations of the continent. In the light of all this and everything the bishops write in view of the imminent general elections (cf. page 20), German Catholics will express their vote with the responsibility of those who love their own country and wish it to be, with others, the protagonist of peace and justice in Europe and in the rest of the world.
