Gatherings or Social Events - An AFDP politician disputes his ousting from a church post.
Christoph Schaufert, the representative of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Saarland, has once again appealed to Rome over his dismissal from a Catholic church committee in the Diocese of Trier. He stated that as per protocol, his second complaint has been forwarded to Bishop Stephan Ackermann for forwarding to the higher religious authorities.
Bishop Ackermann had previously dismissed Schaufert's first complaint earlier, and Schaufert is keen on understanding the reasons behind his removal. He feels that being an AfD member shouldn't be the only reason for his expulsion from the committee, calling it "not understandable and unacceptable" because there were no specific charges directly against him.
Schaufert was removed from his position in the parish council of St. Mary's Church in Neunkirchen in April this year, owing to his political affiliation with the AfD. Bishop Ackermann had justified the decision by stating that the exercise of representative or political mandates, such as Schaufert's in the state parliament for the AfD, is incompatible with leading roles in the church community. Ackermann had even cited the declaration by the German bishops in February 2024 that "nationalism and Christianity are incompatible" to support his decision.
This was the first such case in the entire country. Schaufert, a 55-year-old archaeologist and vice-chairman of the AfD in the Saarland state parliament, has held several municipal offices for the party. He had been a member of the church committee since 2016. The Diocese of Trier caters to around 1.2 million Catholics across Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.
