APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110024-7
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FIGURE 23. Exploitation of the church by the regime. During a heavily publicized visit in late 1971 by American clergyman and civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy as a guest of the GDR Peace Council, East Berlin's longest Protestant edifice was made a forum for attacks on U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Left to right: Rev. Abernathy, Berlin Bishop Albrecht Schoenherr, Mrs. Abernathy, GDR Peace Council President Prof. Guenter Drefahl.
chief weapon, aside from discrimination in educational and employment opportunities, has been the secular dedication of youth (Jugendweihe). In 1954 the Communists revived this ritual, which had originally been instituted in the 19th century by freethinkers as an alternative to confirmation. The preparation for the Jugendweihe consists of 10 hours of "catechism," which constitutes indoctrination in atheistic and socialist doctrine, some of which is openly anti-Christian. The Jugendweihe itself is a ceremony in which the youth take a solemn vow to serve the state. East Germany is the only Communist state to have a secular dedication. Church and state have competed for years to extend their influence with youth, with mixed results. The regime claimed that in 1 year some 87% of all children reaching the age of 14 had registered for the dedication. At the same time, however, church authorities have been able to keep religious confirmation alive.
Both Protestant and Catholic churches suffer from shortages of clergymen as there is little incentive to choose a clerical career; many Evangelical pastorates are filled by laymen. All clergymen are required to take an oath of allegiance to the state. The regime has prohibited clergymen trained abroad, mainly in West Germany, from assuming pastorates or serving parishes in East Germany. Four East German universities maintain Protestant theological sections, and the church operates three seminaries in Leipzig, Naumberg, and East Berlin. The theological sections claimed an enrollment of 501 students in 1970, and the three seminaries reportedly had 347 students in 1967. A Roman Catholic seminary with an enrollment of 800 is maintained at Erfurt without state support. In addition to the seminary at Erfurt, three very small theological centers in East Germany also are engaged in training Roman Catholic clergymen.
Control of church finances by the regime has been the primary means of harassing the churches. Although entitled to state subsidies under the old East German constitution as public law corporations, churches never received enough state assistance to maintain property and carry on church affairs. The new constitution adopted in 1968 refers to religious freedom in very general terms subject to various interpretations and does not mention the status of churches or whether they qualify for state assistance. The churches are restricted and closely supervised in soliciting funds from the faithful, and the regime limits donations and gifts from outside East Germany.
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110024-7
