Germany" "
Writing in the diocesan weekly of Mainz, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Episcopal Conference and archbishop of Mainz, has attacked the reactions aroused in Germany by the so-called Rürup Report, drawn up by the Commission set up by the Schröder government to formulate a reform of the sector of pensions, healthcare, and assistance to the disabled. The report, drafted by 26 experts chaired by Rürup and presented on 28 August, envisages cuts to social security and the raising of pensionable age. Lehmann pulls no punches in criticising the superficiality of some of the comments: “Within minutes and hours of the publication of a report of some 300 closely printed pages, summary judgements devoid of any serious intention were being expressed”, observes the cardinal. He laments the fact that this conduct “particularly regarded just those politicians who had commissioned the report”. “What is at issue here says Lehmann – are fundamental problems for the existence of people today and in the future”, he adds. “Without wider reflection and more detailed study, followed by public discussion, democracy cannot fulfil these tasks. So it is not a secondary appeal to morality he concludes if in this context we exhort people, politely and humbly, to be more serious!”
