Association of German Catholic Youth

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Federation of German Catholic Youth
(BDKJ)
logo
legal form registered association
founding 1947
Seat Dusseldorf
motto Catholic. politically. active.
main emphasis Umbrella organization of Catholic youth organizations
Chair Lisi Maier
Gregor Podschun
Managing directors BDKJ Federal Agency e. V.
people Stefan Ottersbach (Federal President)
Members 660,000 (2012)
Website www.bdkj.de

The Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ) is the largest umbrella organization of Catholic children and youth associations in the Federal Republic of Germany and in 2012 represented around 660,000 members in political, social and church interests. The BDKJ is also a member of the relevant youth ring at all levels .

Long-term projects of the association are, for example, the carol singing campaign , the ecumenical youth cross , the voluntary social year (FSJ), the involvement in the World Youth Day or the youth campaign during Lent with Misereor .

history

During the time of National Socialism , Catholic youth associations were no longer permitted as independent organizations since 1938 and could only exist informally within communities whose pastors had the courage to do so. Even before that, there were fights over compulsory membership of the Hitler Youth. As an arm of the government, the local Hitler Youth tried to prevent Catholic youth from appearing in a uniform manner and denounced such frequent attempts to the Gestapo.

From March 24th to 28th, 1947, young Catholics met in the youth center Kloster Hardehausen near Paderborn for the "Conference of the Leadership of German Catholic Youth". At the meeting they founded the Association of German Catholic Youth. “Principles for internal order” were laid down, and Ludgera Kerstholt and Josef Rommerskirchen were elected as federal leaders . Ludwig Wolker , who had been General Praeses of the Catholic Young Men’s Association before the war and has now been commissioned by the bishops again to work with young people , was appointed Federal President of the Young Men . Monsignor Hermann Klens became the Federal President of Women's Youth . Wacht , which had been discontinued in 1938, was revived as a magazine in 1948 .

The federation developed rapidly, after just a few years it had around one million members in the "tribe" and in the "member communities". In the early years, the firm standing in faith and church should show that the traditional truths and values ​​were indispensable in creating a new social order after the time of National Socialism. Back then, as now, the BDKJ wanted to get involved in building and helping to shape a democratic community with Christian responsibility.

Through the Second Vatican Council and the joint synod of the West German dioceses, the paths to faith and the church have become more differentiated and individual. The BDKJ offers an organizational and structural framework to the urge of youth in the church to find new forms of their own for worship services, to emphasize the responsibility of the laity in cooperation with the priests .

At the founding meeting in Hardehausen in 1947, the BDKJ took a position on “public problems about the fate of German youth”. In 1949 the BDKJ was involved in the establishment of the German Federal Youth Association, the BDKJ federal leader Josef Rommerskirchen became the first DBJR chairman. From the beginning, partnership work with young Catholics was lived and shaped in the German Democratic Republic .

The service of the soldiers was discussed as early as 1952, from there a political thread runs through the debates on conscientious objection and peace policy discussions over the NATO double resolution up to the main topic of peace and justice .

Until the 1960s, the federal festivals with up to 100,000 participants were the highlights of active involvement in society, peace demonstrations, actions at Catholic days and for federal elections were and are other forms of activity.

In April 2016 the Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ) passed a document calling for a reform of the catechism of the Catholic Church . The BDKJ expects that homosexual and heterosexual loving people and their partners are recognized and that same-sex relationships are respected and accepted as love relationships.

At the 2018 Annual General Meeting, the Federation of German Catholic Youth endorsed the introduction of women's ordination in the Roman Catholic Church.

construction

structure

The BDKJ is organized at federal, state, diocesan , city and district levels as well as in deaneries . Occasionally there is also the BDKJ at parish level.

The highest decision-making body of the BDKJ is the general assembly. Once a year at Haus Altenberg she makes fundamental decisions for representing the interests of children and young people in politics, the church and society. Around 120 delegates from the BDKJ member and diocesan associations from all over Germany represent the members of the Catholic youth associations.

The BDKJ federal board heads the federal association. It consists of Lisi Maier (BDKJ Federal Chairperson, confirmed in 2018), Gregor Podschun (BDKJ Federal Chairperson, elected in 2020) and the BDKJ Federal President Domvikar Stefan Ottersbach (as of July 2020). In July 2020, there was no candidate for the position of honorary federal chairman, which was filled again from 2015 to 2020 after a 20-year vacancy. In the BDKJ federal office in Düsseldorf and in the Berlin office, the board and lectures work on the topics of youth policy in Germany and Europe, development policy , church policy , voluntary services , youth unemployment , gender equality , women and girls policy and military issues .

State associations do not exist in all federal states, so the level actually subordinate to the federal level is the diocesan association. Each diocesan association of the BDKJ is free to set up its own structures within the framework of the federal regulations.

In the plenary assemblies of the respective BDKJ levels, the representatives of the member associations at the same level as well as the representatives of the BDKJ associations of the lower level are always entitled to vote. This is comparable to the structure of the youth rings .

Spiritual association management

At all levels and all subdivisions of the BDKJ there is a “Spiritual Association Management ”, each of which has different names ( curate / curate, spiritual director, praeses, etc.). The spiritual association management is an elected member of the board of directors who keeps an eye on the spiritual and spiritual dimension of youth association work in a special way. The German Bishops' Conference published a new regulation on this in spring 2007. On this basis, provisions are to be made in all dioceses for formation and episcopal commission.

Youth associations

The youth associations in the BDKJ are, according to the federal regulations, § 3, “independent Catholic youth associations, to which children and young people as well as adult employees belong as members. In the youth associations, child and youth work is organized, jointly designed and responsible for young people themselves. They express the concerns and interests of young people. "

The following are considered youth associations with an advisory vote:

In addition, individual state, diocesan, district and deanery associations have other youth associations such. B. the Maltese youth who are not active on the higher levels.

Diocesan associations

The BDKJ is organized in 26 of the 27 German (arch) dioceses . Only in the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen there is no BDKJ, in the Archdiocese of Hamburg the Catholic Youth in Mecklenburg ( KJM ) does not belong to the BDKJ.

Focus of work

Fairtrade

The BDKJ-Bundesverband is a partner in gepa , the "Society for the Promotion of Partnership with the Third World GmbH", and is thus significantly involved in the development of fair trade in Germany. The BDKJ Bayern's fair breaking campaign was awarded the One World Ecumenical Prize.

Church politics

As an umbrella organization, one of the most important tasks of the BDKJ is to represent interests in church politics. The BDKJ represents the interests of the Catholic youth in the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) and in the Working Group of Catholic Organizations in Germany (AGKOD).

Sinus milieu study U27

The BDKJ organized a youth pastoral symposium for the Sinus Milieu U27 study by the Heidelberg Institute Sinus Sociovision in 2009. Here the results of the study were discussed in connection with the work of the Catholic youth associations.

Actions

  • 72 hours :
    • 2004: "72 hours without compromise"
    • 2009: "Heaven sends us"
    • 2013: "Heaven sends us"
    • 2019: "Heaven sends us"
  • Future time:
    • 2017: "Together for a colorful country"

literature

  • Heinz-Siegfried Strelow (Red.): Over time. 60 years of BDKJ in the Diocese of Hildesheim. Festschrift. 1947 - 2007 (= Hildesheimer Chronik Vol. 17), ed. from BDKJ, Federation of German Catholic Youth, Diocesan Association Hildesheim, Diocesan Board , Amistad, Hildesheim: BDKJ, Diözesanverband Hildesheim, 2007, ISBN 3-89366-557-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Federal Executive. BDKJ, accessed July 25, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b About Us. BDKJ, accessed August 24, 2012 .
  3. ↑ An illuminating regional study on the relationship between Catholic youth and the Hitler Youth, with many contemporary documents and reports from contemporary witnesses, is available in Norbert Czerwinski, Sabine Grabowski u. a. Ed .: Impossible to withdraw? Catholic and Protestant youth in National Socialist Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf 1989, 2nd ex. 1990 edition, without ISBN. The prerequisites for the struggles across the empire are also presented.
  4. ↑ BDKJ: To the church dealing with love and partnership
  5. ↑ [1] , accessed on February 15, 2020
  6. ^ The German Bishops, No. 87: Spiritual Association Management in the Catholic Youth Associations. (PDF (0.15 MB)) Retrieved July 25, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Federal regulations (PDF; 536 kB), § 3