Bishop Mixa slams Germany’s ‘hostile’ attitude toward children

Walter Mixa, the outspoken Catholic bishop of Augsburg, has slammed the German government’s modest increase in money paid to parents an “insult” and called the country’s “hostile” attitudes to children more dangerous than the global financial crisis.

Published: 15 October 2008 17:07 CEST

Bishop Mixa slams Germany’s 'hostile' attitude toward children

Photo: DPA

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet on Wednesday agreed to raise the state-funded Kindergeld – paid to all parents in Germany for breeding – by €10 a month to €164 for the first two children. Mum and Dad will receive €170 each month for their third ankle-biter and €195 for the fourth and all successive children. This would total €693 each month for families with four children.

“We will ensure that it’s easier for families to make ends meet,” said German Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen.

But Bishop Mixa labelled the increase “an insult to families with children” and a “gross disregard of what families do for our society.” He also said it was “societal scandal of the highest degree” that the government was able to cobble together a multi-billion euro rescue package for Germany’s banks within days while it scrutinized every cent for family programmes.

“The threat posed to our country from a society hostile to children is much larger than the banking crisis and it must be addressed just as urgently,” Mixa said in a statement released diocese of Augsburg.

Mixa has long been known for courting controversy. In 2007, he created a stir by accusing Ursula von der Leyen of wanting to degrade German mothers into “birthing machines” by increasing access to daycare.