German Bishop: Christian Refugees Are Under Threat From Other Asylum Seekers

Cardinal Rainer Woelki said Christian persecution was not a topic of ‘bygone ages’ 

The Archbishop of Cologne has warned that Christian refugees are being threatened by other asylum seekers in refugee camps, according to a report in The Tablet.

Speaking at an ecumenical service in Dusseldorf last Saturday, Cardinal Rainer Woelki said: “Concern is growing that politicians and the authorities might not be taking such threats seriously enough. Christian persecution is not a topic of bygone ages,” he warned.

He said Germany must speak out more loudly for religious freedom rights, a right that Christians in Muslim countries also had. “That is what we demand,” Woelki said.

Meanwhile, Gottfried Martens, a Protestant pastor told katholisch.de that the “mobbing” of Christian refugees in refugee camps in Germany was increasing.

He said it was no longer rare for entire Muslim communities in refugee shelters to threaten Christians.

He claimed that Christians had been forced to watch videos of beheadings, were barred from using the kitchen because they were “unclean” and had been beaten up and their crosses removed from their necks.

As a solution, he suggested accommodation Muslims and Christians separately. He said: “In our efforts to be tolerant, which are in themselves praiseworthy, we cannot just let Christians become some kind of guinea pigs.

“Whenever I talk to politicians, I’m told that the churches do not think that separate housing is necessary and I’m left looking stupid.”

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