Peter Kossen

Peter Kossen (* 1968 in Wildeshausen ) is a German Roman Catholic priest . He campaigns against modern slavery and for fair and dignified working conditions.

Life

Kossen grew up in Rechterfeld , a village in the Visbek municipality , as the second of four children of the married couple Ida and Georg Kossen. He attended the Antonianum grammar school in Vechta and passed his Abitur in 1988. Then he took up the study of theology and philosophy at the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster . During his year abroad in 1991, Kossen studied two semesters at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Back in Münster, after completing his diploma in theology in 1993, he belonged to the first class of priests in the diocese, who had a year of practical experience in parish pastoral care before being ordained deacon and priest.

This “congregation year” took him to the St. Johannes parish in Recklinghausen-Suderwich , where he remained active even after he was ordained as a deacon in 1995. On May 26, 1996 Peter Kossen received in St. Paul Cathedral Muenster by Bishop Dr. Reinhard Lettmann the sacrament of ordination . As a chaplain , he then served five years in priestly service in Nordwalde St. Dionysius , then three years in Münster St. Norbert and St. Thomas More (now: Catholic parish of St. Francis in Münster) before he became pastor in Emmerich on the Lower Rhine in 2004 . Under his leadership, four formerly independent parishes in Emmerich (St. Christophorus) and three rural parishes (St. John the Baptist) merged to form new, larger parishes and a pastoral care unit.

In 2011, at the request of the then auxiliary bishop Heinrich Timmerevers , Kossen moved to Vechta as permanent representative of the official for the Lower Saxony part of the diocese of Münster , the official district of Oldenburg . There he was also named Monsignor and Councilor of Officials . At the same time he became a subsidiar in St. Gertrud in Lohne .

Peter Kossen has been a member of the Priestly Council of the Münster diocese since 2000 . In 2013 he was also the chairman of the State Caritas Association in Oldenburg .

At the beginning of 2017, Kossen moved to Lengerich (Westphalia) as the leading pastor of the Seliger Niels Stensen parish . As a member of the governing body of the Vechta Office he was only active as a pastor to a limited extent, he had the bishop in Münster Dr. Felix Genn asked to switch to pastoral care.

Commitment to a decent working environment

Kossen denounces unworthy conditions in the world of work and demands fair remuneration based on a Christian conviction. As early as 2013, he was in favor of a statutory minimum wage of at least 8.50 euros per hour. “Then we have a brand that can be sued.” That is not the solution to all problems, but the principle “equal pay for the same work in the same place” must apply, Kossen told ver.di magazine .

As the parish priest in Emmerich , he pointed out that the Bremer Lagerhaus Gesellschaft , which is supported by the city, mediates its jobs through temporary employment agencies , most of which are in the low-wage sector. Despite full-time employment, many employees would still have to claim additional social benefits in order to make ends meet.

Working conditions in the meat industry

As a prelate in Vechta , Kossen had massively criticized the grievances in work contracts , temporary work and accommodation, especially of Romanian and Bulgarian workers in the meat industry in the Oldenburger Münsterland . According to him, around 20,000 people worked in north-west Germany with contracts for work , 40,000 as temporary workers (as of 2015). They are at the mercy of their subcontractors , who place them in the meat industry. In some large slaughterhouses, they make up around 80 to 90 percent of the workforce. “The system of subcontractors and work contracts brings drug trafficking, forced prostitution and human trafficking into the region. [..]. These are mafia-like structures that are gradually spreading here, "said Kossen of the world in 2015." Good citizens "would have earned a lot from the situation of migrant workers ," if demolished houses were rented out for horrendous prices in Essen , Emstek , Visbek and also wages Kossen explained in a sermon in Lohne. The temporary employment agencies earned the most. For the production of meat products, according to Kossen, declarations of honor would have to be given that this would be done with a minimum wage and social security contributions .

Kossen was then threatened: a stranger put a stripped rabbit in front of the door. He himself rated it as a "greeting from the meat industry".

In January 2019, Kossen founded the association "Action Dignity and Justice" with experts and committed people, which was presented to the public in May 2019. The association is dedicated to the goal of empowering migrant workers to enforce their employee rights.

On May 9, 2020, he protested in front of the Westfleisch factory gate in Coesfeld, Westphalia, against inhumane working conditions after the slaughterhouse had been closed because more than 100 employees who were housed in a mass accommodation had tested positive for the corona virus .

Awards

On August 23, 2020, Peter Kossen received the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia from Prime Minister Armin Laschet .

reception

Through his socially critical attitude and his “courageous criticism”, Kossen “not only made friends in industry and also within the church”, wrote the Focus 2016.

Web links

• "The abuse of work contracts eats its way through our economy like a cancerous ulcer" . Interview with Peter Kossen. Society for innovative employment promotion mbH North Rhine-Westphalia. 1/2014
• We slaveholders. Exploitation in Germany. ARD documentary 2016 with Peter Kossen .
• “1 euro steak with a bit of human trafficking, please” Interview with Peter Kossen in The European , September 2016.
• Coronavirus in slaughterhouses: "People are very scared" Interview with Peter Kossen in Zeit Online , May 10, 2020.
• Corona in the slaughterhouse. Tireless fighter against the "pig system" on June 19, 2020 on weser-kurier.de
• Social pastor Kossen receives State Order of Merit from NRW. "I would have liked more support" . Interview with Katharina Geiger, domradio , August 24, 2020 [1]

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gerd Felder: Pastor Peter Kossen: Upright Rebel . In: The daily mail . May 17, 2020 ( online [accessed July 6, 2020]).
2. ^ Change of office in the official office . In: Sonntagsblatt Vechta . January 23, 2011, p. 11 ( Online [accessed July 6, 2020]).
3. ↑ mission: Lebenshaus: Monsignore Peter Kossen: Children's and youth hospice in Wilhelmshaven. (No longer available online.) In: www.kinderhospizwilhelmshaven.de. Archived from the original on December 6, 2016 ; accessed on December 6, 2016 . 
4. ↑ Homepage of the Diocese of Münster - Looking forward to pastoral care: Peter Kossen goes from Vechta to Lengerich. In: www.bistum-muenster.de. Retrieved December 6, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Katharina Schipkowski: Peter Kossen on the meat industry: “Perfidious system of dependence” . In: the daily newspaper . ( taz.de [accessed December 6, 2016]).
6. ^ Westfälische Nachrichten: Peter Kossen wants to go back to basic work . In: Westfälische Nachrichten . ( wn.de [accessed December 6, 2016]).
7. ↑ bmo: Much applause for Peter Kossen . In: Rheinische Post . December 16, 2016 ( digitally [accessed July 6, 2020]).
8. ↑ No modern slavery! In: caritas.de . November 11, 2016 ( caritas.de [accessed December 6, 2016]).
9. ↑ Maria Well Meyer, ecumenism as an opportunity and challenge, Rev. Peter Kossen 100 days in office, Westfälische Nachrichten of 20 May 2017 digital
10. ↑ Interview with Prelate Peter Kossen . ( verdi.de [accessed December 6, 2016]).
11. ↑ Vechta: The picture book city and its unchristian moments - WORLD. In: THE WORLD. Retrieved December 7, 2016 . 
12. ^ Criticism: Strangers threaten the prelate . In: NWZonline . ( nwzonline.de [accessed December 6, 2016]).
13. ^ RP ONLINE: Emmerich: Peter Kossen with acclaimed sermon for fair wages. In: RP ONLINE. Retrieved December 6, 2016 . 
14. ↑ Katja Tichomirowa: Pastor against agricultural industry: slave labor and a dead rabbit . In: fr-online.de . November 1, 2012 ( berliner-zeitung.de [accessed December 7, 2016]).
15. ^ Westfälische Nachrichten: Association dignity and justice. Modern Slavery Network , May 12, 2020.
16. ^ Action Dignity and Justice: Our Association. .
17. ↑ Pastor protests in front of meat factory against "modern slavery". In: kathisch.de , May 9, 2020 online .
18. ↑ land.nrw.de: Prime Minister Armin Laschet awards 13 citizens with the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , 23 August 2020.
19. ↑ FOCUS Online: Critical prelate Kossen as a pastor to Westphalia . In: FOCUS Online . ( focus.de [accessed December 7, 2016]).