The Lincoln times., 1956-04-19
Protestant
Crisis Seen
In Germany

BERLIN Protestants may face
a showdown soon with the Com
muniSt regime in East Germany
Leaders of the ominan t
Evangelical Church say they are
ready. but hopeful of averting an
outright break. despite new and
increasing pressures.
On the church'S side, the NOV
ing force is Bishop Otto Dibelius,
spiritual leader of Germany's Pro-
testants in both East and West.
Among the 100000 residents of
East Germany and East Berlin, he
counts 100000 in the Evange-
lical flock Once a thorn to the
Nazis, Bishop Dibelius is an equal
ly stanch opponent of the Com
muniStS.
"A fight has been forced upon
us which we did not want" he de-
clared in recent sermon in East
Berlin But the church of Jesus
Christ does not shy away from a
time of fight"
Church history shows, he con-
tinued. that such fights bring new
strength to the church.
The immediate cause of his de-
claration was a ban by Communist
authorities on traditional religious
instruction in East Berlin schools.
Bishop Dibelius protested the ban.
A week later he came under sharp
personal attack in the Communist
Party organ, Neues Deutschland.
1t argued that religious instruc-
ton was banned at the request of
many parents and was intended
ito reduce the overStrain of our
children to a reasonable degree"
The school ban was but one of a
series of antichurch measures in
recent months. Behind the entire
campaign is Communist insistence
that the church be loyal to the
state and its peace policy" This
means, in effect, that the church
must refrain from criticism of the
state and its indoctrination of
communism in youth.
Since last october, pressure
against the church has been
mounting. The Com mmuni S t S
stepped up propaganda to promote
their youth conservation" pro-
gram. This involves "ConSecration
ceremonies" in which school chill
dren pledge themselves to the
Communist state.
Evangelical leaders protested. In
this. as in other disputes. they
were Joined by the Roman Cath
olic Church in East Germany. Ro-
man Catholics called the 'conse-
Grafton" rites incompatible with
their faith.
Toward the end of 1855, the
state announced a new cut in
state subsidies to the church. The
subsidies are paid under long
standing agreements and are used
chiefly to pay pastors and other
church officials. Combined with
previous cuts, the subsidies were
thus reduced to less than two
thirds of the original subsidy.
In January, the Communists
attacked on another front. They
charged that traveller aid missions
maintained by the Evangelical
Church at railway stations in East
Germany were spy centers." East
German officials arrested several
mission workers. Bishop DibeliuS
protested.
Most of those arrested were re-
leased some weeks later without
explanation. But by early March,
the government had shut down
81 out of the 81 railway comfort
missions operated by the church
in East Germany.
The closest the church has come
to a formal agreement with the
state was on June 10, 1858, when
the state agreed to ease pressure
on the church in several ways. The
church in turn agreed ito desiSt
from influencing and interfering
in economic and political life in
an unconstitutional manner"