The Archbishop of Berlin, Heiner Koch, expressed his dismay at the Islamist attack that tragically ended the celebration of the Christopher Street Day, the main LGBT Pride march in the German capital. “It is terrible to destroy such a happy and moving celebration in such a brutal way. What a terrible event! Hatred must not prevail,” said the prelate, who also announced that the Sunday Masses of the archdiocese would be offered for the victims, the injured, and for “peaceful coexistence in society.”
The attack took place on the night of July 25, after a day of concerts, parades, and public events held in various parts of Berlin. According to German authorities, a van drove at high speed into the crowd gathered in the Tiergarten area, killing one woman and leaving around thirty injured, several of them seriously.
The alleged perpetrator was identified as Abdul B., a 21-year-old known to the police and linked to radical Islamism. He had been released from a juvenile detention center last May and, according to investigations, maintained contacts with circles sympathetic to the self-proclaimed Islamic State. After the attack, he fled the scene and died the following day during a police operation.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the attack as an “abominable act” and stated that it was “an attack on our society,” while Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said that terrorism would not succeed in destroying “our way of life and coexistence.”
Koch, one of the main voices of Germany’s progressive wing
Heiner Koch’s statements are particularly significant given the profile of the Archbishop of Berlin, who has long been considered one of the most representative figures of the progressive sector of the German Bishops’ Conference.
His name has been closely linked to pastoral care for homosexual persons. On the eve of the 2015 Synod on the Family, he argued that the Church should use “a different language” toward those who experience same-sex attraction and maintained that presenting homosexuality solely as a sin was “hurtful.” After the approval of so-called same-sex marriage in Germany, he apologized for the alleged discrimination suffered by these individuals and even described homophobia as an “impious tradition” within the Church.
In addition to these positions, Koch has also stood out for his defense of a broad policy of welcoming immigrants and refugees. In 2016, on behalf of the German Bishops’ Conference, he stated that those who promote the exclusion of immigrants “cannot base that stance on Christianity,” while calling for special attention for Christian refugees and for those who identify as homosexual or transgender.