At the start of the plenary meeting of the Central Committee of German Catholics (Zdk), one day before the opening of the 101st Katholikentag that will start in Munster tomorrow, the president of Zdk, Thomas Sternberg, asked for “cohesion in religions and cultures” in Germany. He pointed to “mutual respect, trust and acknowledgment” as prerequisites for peaceful cohabitation. “Different backgrounds, lifestyles and religious confessions should be clear and respected by everyone”. According to Sternberg, “for us Christians this is the way of living together”. “At the start of the 101st Katholikentag of the German Catholic Church, ZDK clearly objects to any form of exclusion, racism and xenophobia”. The plenary meeting of the Central Committee, gathered in Munster from today, will try to voice these concepts in the “Munster manifesto”, as the final document will be called. It also indirectly but critically hints at the positions of AFD, a xenophobic party. The day before the Katholikentag, the fact the organisers invited the spokesman for religious affairs of AFD to the Bundestag for a debate has been criticised. In a public statement, some Catholic theologians had asked to cancel the debate. But Sternberg has always stayed true to his invitation, while reiterating his firm criticism of AFD, especially because of its political approaches, which, in his opinion, are incompatible with Christian faith.