Dresden (dpa / sn) - Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) is convinced that religious life contributes to social cohesion in Saxony. It has "great value" for the country, he said after a meeting with the bishops of the Catholic and Protestant churches active in the Free State on Tuesday in Dresden. In the churches one can learn how to live together in a society in which people's issues and interests are becoming ever more diverse. "What is at the core of what unites us that leads to a sense of belonging, despite different positions, attitudes or origins."
According to Kretschmer, many of the church's support measures are often carried out quietly and in secret, they are "enormously important" and practiced charity. "We want to strengthen religious life." Especially in a region with a comparatively small proportion of Christians in the population, it is important to know "what constitutes the essential foundations of our coexistence". Religious education and denominational day-care centers and schools would contribute to this.
During the round in the cathedral building, Kretschmer and several ministers in his cabinet also spoke about very current challenges against the background of the pandemic, the energy crisis and the Russian war against Ukraine. Heinrich Timmerevers, bishop of the Dresden-Meissen diocese, had invited the bishops of the regional churches of Saxony, Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia and Central Germany, as well as the bishoprics of Görlitz and Magdeburg. The last time there was one of these regular encounters was in June 2019, after which the corona pandemic interrupted the cycle.
