An anti-Catholic video targeting the election campaign of a potential successor to Angela Merkel has drawn criticism from bishops and politicians in Germany amid growing concerns about a wider erosion of religious freedom in an increasingly secular Europe. The video was published online and shown at an election event of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in early August. It depicts Armin Laschet, the Christian Democratic Union’s candidate to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel, as a Russian Matryoshka doll that “hides” several other dolls inside. “Whoever votes for Armin Laschet and the CDU, votes for … ultra-Catholic Laschet confidants for whom sex before marriage is a taboo,” an ominious voice-over tells viewers, while a further Russian doll, bearing face the face of a close aide to Laschet, is revealed from inside the bigger doll. The aide is a 35-year-old Catholic, Nathanael Liminski, is in charge of the Laschet’s office in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. As a practicing Catholic, Liminski in 2010 defended the Church’s views on pre-marital sex and homosexuality in a TV show. He also co-founded the group “Generation Benedict” following World Youth Day 2005. (The organisation changed its name to “Pontifex Initiative” after Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation from office).
German Social Democrats Attack Catholic Faith of Potential Angela Merkel Successor’s Aide| National Catholic Register
German Social Democrats Attack Catholic Faith of Potential Angela Merkel Successor’s Aide| National Catholic Register
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