"Rising Concern: Germany's Battle Against the AfD"
German bishops, including Bishop Georg Bätzing, express concern over the rise of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, joining protests against racism, fascism, and the AfD. The bishops are alarmed by the party's reported secret meeting discussing mass deportation plans, which they see as a threat to democracy and the nation's free democratic basic order. The rise of the AfD presents both external and internal challenges to the Catholic Church in Germany, as bishops break an unwritten ecclesiastical rule by denouncing the party by name and face the difficulty of reaching a consensus on banning AfD members from holding Church offices.