“A serious preparation and assessment process lasting several months is needed before a person is baptised and welcomed into the Church. This is true for all candidates for Baptism, regardless of their origins and cultural background”. Matthias Kopp, spokesperson for the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), said this in the ongoing debate in Germany about asylum seekers who convert to Christianity. “Baptism per se does not give any right to asylum”, although it may “affect the granting of the residence permit in Germany – Mr Kopp pointed out –; in particular, protection may be granted rather than expulsion if the person is likely to be persecuted on religious grounds in their home country”. The German Bishops prepared a document in 2009, then updated in 2016, on the accompaniment of people of Muslim origin towards Baptism. It includes a chapter on the “legal aspects related to the residence permit”. Mathias Kopp declared that there are currently no accurate estimates of the number of adult Muslim asylum seekers who were baptised in the some 11,000 parishes of Germany. What is sure, however, is the fact that preparation for Baptism lasts one year, which shows “our concern” to ensure “that the preparation for Baptism takes place in an accurate way”.