Former State Secretary leaves Church: SPD politician takes issue with church asylum

Former SPD State Secretary Christian Lange is leaving the Protestant Church – citing statements by Berlin Bishop Christian Stäblein on church asylum as the reason for his departure. The Bild newspaper reported this. Stäblein, the refugee commissioner of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), recently met with three Somalis who had been repeatedly turned back at the German border with Poland . He described church asylum as a "service to society, which is thus reminded of its foundation of compassion."

Bild quotes a letter from former MP Lange to EKD Bishop Kirsten Fehrs and council member Kerstin Griese, who sits in the Bundestag for the SPD. According to the report, he refers to Stäblein's words. "Such appearances create the impression that church welfare takes precedence over state law," the letter states. For Lange, this is a signal that he "cannot accept as a democrat and lawyer." He is now leaving the church.

Christian Lange served in the Bundestag for the Baden-Württemberg SPD from 1998 to 2021. From 2013, he served as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Justice for two legislative periods. He now works as a management consultant at Roland Berger.

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Lange continues in his letter: "The continued practice of church asylum represents, in my view, a disregard for constitutional decisions. It counteracts the legally regulated asylum procedures of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) and the rulings of independent courts."

In his letter, the former MP refers to new figures on church asylum in Germany, which were recently reported by the Bild newspaper. Last year, there were 2,386 reported cases of church asylum. That's around 300 more than in 2023.

Normally, church asylum is only granted in so-called hardship cases. The EKD (Evangelical Church in Germany) refers to the temporary "admission of refugees by a church congregation to prevent deportation that is perceived as life-threatening and to trigger a renewed official review of the asylum procedure." Of the 2,386 cases, Lange stated in his letter, only one was a hardship case recognized by the BAMF.

Lange is also bothered by other statements from the Protestant Church. "During the heated phase of the 2025 federal election campaign, EKD representatives – especially Bishop Stäblein – repeatedly commented on specific legislative proposals and warned against majorities involving 'right-wing extremists,'" Bild newspaper quoted the Social Democrat as saying. He said: "If the Protestant Church undermines constitutional decisions by granting church asylum and simultaneously intervenes in party politics, it is supporting the AfD."

Criticism of the EKD's actions has also recently emerged from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). "The churches' humanitarian commitment deserves respect, but asylum is decided solely by the rule of law," said domestic policy spokesman Alexander Throm ( CDU ) to the Berliner Zeitung . It is clear "that some church representatives—not all—repeatedly place themselves above the law," Throm said.

"This is about transferring the person to the responsible state within the EU, so humanitarian questions don't arise at all," said the CDU MP, referring to the Bild report that church asylum was primarily granted to so-called Dublin cases. These are people whose asylum procedures would normally be the responsibility of another EU country. The CDU politician advocated for a fundamental re-examination of church asylum.