Crucifixes in the Rules of Procedure
A cross for every state authority in Bavaria

From 1 June of this year, a cross will hang in every state authority - but not in official and classrooms, but in the entrance area. A corresponding change in the general rules of procedure for the authorities of the Free State was decided by the Bavarian Council of Ministers on Tuesday. The opposition speaks of a "campaign tactical maneuver".

The cross is a fundamental symbol of the cultural identity of Christian-occidental character, according to Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU). "The cross is not a sign of religion," said Söder after the Cabinet meeting.

In future, a cross should hang in every state authority - in the entrance area and not necessarily in every office. This is to prevent people who feel disturbed from complaining in court. Söder: "This is not a violation of the neutrality law."

Clearly recognizable, but not constantly in mind

Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) added after the Cabinet meeting: "This is a clear signal for the Christian tradition." Because the cross should be hung in the entrance area, there would be no discussions, as they were conducted in classrooms, because no one in the entrance area the whole day "must be under a cross, who would not want that".

Municipalities, counties and districts are advised by the Council of Ministers to hang a cross. However, the regulation remains voluntary for them, unlike state authorities. Universities should also be free to decide. Minister of the Interior Herrmann emphasized that the decision of the Bavarian Cabinet has nothing to do with the debate on Islam.

"We do not define ourselves in Bavaria against something else, but we must define ourselves based on our own values, our own tradition and culture." [quote from Joachim Herrmann]

Bavarian Catholics welcome decision

Joachim Unterländer of the National Committee of Bavarian Catholics welcomed the Cabinet decision. Crosses are part of public life in Bavaria, said the chairman of the Catholic Council and CSU member of parliament. For him, crosses are lived folk culture. But symbols alone are not enough, warns Lower Countries. The Protestant regional bishop Heinrich Bedforf-Strohm recently said so in the Protestant Land Synod

"We all agree that it is not enough that crosses hang on the wall, but they must also be in the heart - the crosses must be reflected in what we do, what we say." [quote from Heinrich Bedford-Strohm]


Opposition: "campaign tactical maneuver"

As a campaign tactical maneuver, however, denotes the opposition in the Diet, the initiative of the Cabinet. Markus Rinderspacher, fraction leader of the SPD, spoke of an instrumentalization of the Christian faith for party political purposes.

"Our Bavarian Constitution, including the German Basic Law, explicitly provides for religious freedom, and I am completely unsuspecting as a Christian and a member of the Protestant Land Synod, that the Christian faith would not be important to me, but if Mr. Söder carries it now on the silver platter - in the election campaign, like a mantra - then you can already frown. " [quote from Markus Rinderspacher]

Also Katharina Schulze, fraction leader of the Greens, accused Söder to abuse the cross for the election campaign.
"Religion is a private matter. Mr. Söder alternately appears here as a manager, as a carer and more recently as a missionary. I find that highly questionable and not appropriate for the symbol of the cross. " [quote from Katharina Schulze]

That's exactly how Florian Streibl sees the Free Voters. He, too, finds the cross too bad to instrumentalize it for party political games. However, the member of the state parliament from Oberammergau can win the whole thing then also something positive: The woodcarving art in his homeland could perhaps now look forward to many orders from Bavarian authorities.

(source article: https://www.br.de/nachrichten/ein-kreuz-fuer-jede-staatliche-behoerde-in-bayern-100.html )