Bavaria crucifix law kicks in

MUNICH: A controversial decree requiring Christian crucifixes to be put up at entrances of most public buildings in Bavaria came into force yesterday, sparking accusations of identity politics ahead of elections in the southern German state.

Markus Soeder, Bavaria’s conservative state premier, had initiated the measure in April, saying “the cross is a fundamental symbol of our Bavarian identity and way of life”.

But the order sparked an outcry, with critics accusing Mr Soeder of politicising a religious symbol as his CSU party battles to claw back voters who have turned to the far-right and Islamophobic AfD ahead of state election in October.

“Soeder has misused the cross for an election manoeuvre,” the region’s Social Democrat chief Natascha Kohnen told the Augsburger Allgemeine daily.

Mr Soeder was also widely mocked, including by the state premier of neighbouring Baden-Wuerttemburg, Winfried Kretschmann, who said a photo of his Bavarian colleague holding the cross made him “think of a vampire film”.

But among the harshest condemnation was that from Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the president of the German Bishops’ Conference, who warned Mr Soeder that “if the cross is viewed only as a cultural symbol, then it has not been understood”.

“Then the cross is being expropriated by the state,” said Cardinal Marx in an interview with Sueddeutsche daily, adding that it must not be used as a tool to exclude.

Defending his cross decree yesterday, Mr Soeder told Bavarian radio that “we are shaped by Christian values, with Christian holidays”. He said the majority of Bavarians backed the move.

AFP An effigy of a Catholic cleric with a speech bubble reading ‘Ok ok! But the patent law for charity still is our responsibility!’ is pictured during a protest rally in Munich against a new decree requiring crucifixes to be put up at entrances of most...