The German Evangelical Church (EKD), the Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the German Olympic Committee (DOSB) have collaborated to produce a brochure on integration. The document called “Forming society together” was presented on 23 October during a joint workshop held at Kaiserau, with the participation of representatives of the Churches and sporting organizations that work in the sector. The 56-page brochure furnishes ideas and practical testimonies on the feasibilities that the Churches and the world of sport have to promote and support the integration of immigrants in Germany. It gives examples of good practices to be imitated. It also reviews the current state of discussion on the question of “integration” in Germany. In the document, the chairman of the EKD Council, Bishop Wolfgang Huber, the President of the Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, and the chairman of the DOSB, Thomas Bach, urge that “these ideas be adopted and integration be turned into a field of growing collaboration between Church and sport”. “This joint brochure represents a further proof of the fact that the Churches and sport have common values and objectives”, declared Valentin Schmidt, the EKD’s delegate for sport. Churches and sport “understand themselves not only as representatives of particular interests but also as promoters of public values, especially on question of integration that actively contribute to social cohesion”.
