Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Chair of the Council of the EKD and Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, receives death threats for his stand on the sea rescue of refugees in the Mediterranean. Photo: ELKB/Rost
LWF General Secretary reaffirms commitment to refugees
(LWI) - The General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Rev. Dr Martin Junge, has written to Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Chair of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, expressing his concern at the death threats the German church leader has received and strongly condemning them.
On 4 January, in an interview with the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, Bedford-Strohm said that he had received death threats, especially in connection with his commitment to sea rescue of refugees in the Mediterranean.
It is astonishing, Junge said in his letter, that the concrete proposal for a solution "which we in the LWF have gratefully acknowledged, provokes these negative reactions, but that the striking failure of European governments to respond adequately to this humanitarian crisis is not examined critically.” The care for people in need of protection is a "core concern of the liberating message of Jesus Christ."
