Church and state said farewell to Alois Glück on Saturday in Munich’s Liebfrauendom with a requiem and subsequent act of mourning. Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx thanked the deceased for his witness to faith and life, for his service in the church, the family and society.
Glück allowed himself to be challenged by the Christian message and showed that it worked to make politics with the Sermon on the Mount, said Marx. The point is not to promote polarization, but rather to build bridges and reconcile: “This is Catholic social teaching in its purest form.”
ZdK President from 2009 to 2015
The CSU politician Glück died on February 26th at the age of 84. The farmer from Chiemgau was a member of the Bavarian state parliament for 38 years, from 2003 to 2008 he was its president, and before that he was parliamentary group leader of his party for a long time. From 2009 to 2015 he headed the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK). His coffin stood in front of the altar steps, covered by a white and blue diamond flag.
A Christian society does not let anyone down, the cardinal reminded. She looks for greater justice and solidarity as well as cohesion. He hopes that many young people will get involved in the common good: “This is a special kind of calling for a Christian to shape the community with the great principles of the Gospel.”
One must be aware that without the churches and the community of believers there can be no transmission of Christian thought to the next generation, emphasized Marx. That’s why Glück has always been committed to the church. It was very important to him that this church renew itself. The cardinal admitted that he had to endure a lot, “including from some of the chief shepherds.” But luck didn’t let that deter her. For him it was about looking forward, filling up ditches and healing wounds. “That made a deep impression on me.”
At the state mourning ceremony, State Parliament President Ilse Aigner paid tribute to her predecessor as a pioneer and peacemaker. He dedicated his life to Bavaria and the people there: “You showed our democracy the direction through what you did, but above all through the way you did it.”
Söder: Great politician with natural authority
The Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder called Glück one of the great politicians with natural authority. As a young member of the state parliament, he was his first parliamentary group leader, from whom he had to listen to many admonitions. “I should have listened to him earlier, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble.” He received some tips from him by email when he was already Prime Minister. He was particularly grateful to him during the difficult phase of the referendum “Save the bees!” I took over the round table for mediation in 2019.
ZdK President Irme Stetter-Karp summarized the deceased’s achievements for the highest church lay body with the words: “Luckily we were lucky.” His years as president were times of upheaval in society and in the church with the revelation of the abuse scandal in 2010: “Alois Glück was competent, strategically skilled, upright in his thoughts and actions. You could rely on him.” She added: “His voice is a reminder and incentive for us not to let up in our commitment to a sustainable Christian life.” – Former Federal President Horst Köhler, former Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber, former Federal Finance Minister Theo Waigel and EPP leader Manfred Weber were also present in the cathedral. (KNA)