In view of the forthcoming general elections that will determine the choice of the next German Chancellor, to be held on Sunday 18 September, many appeals have been made by exponents of the Catholic world, following the letter of the bishops to the nation (see SIR 60/2005). “We wish to encourage women to bring to politics their own particular experiences and skills and to actively press their own needs in choosing between the candidates”, said Ingrid Fischbach, president of the Federation of German Catholic Women, in Berlin on 13 September. The independent association, active in the field of social policy, has a membership of some 220,000 throughout Germany and campaigns for equal participation of men and women in the Church, in politics and in society. An exhortation to vote in the elections also comes from the Central Committee of Catholics (ZdK) which in a press release of 12 September declares that “not voting is a sign of a flight from responsibility and exposes us to the risk of extremism and demagogy. The federal republic is going through one of the most difficult phases since its establishment”, continues the communiqué, which identifies among the most significant problems “structural mass unemployment, public sector deficit, new tasks of social policy in the fields of education and family policy, welfare systems and the safeguard of peace”, as well as “the crisis of the EU. In this situation, Germany needs wide-ranging reforms and stability in political relations in Parliament”.
