German churches draft pastoral care plan for NATO Article 5 scenario
The German Catholic Bishops' Conference (DBK) and the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) have drawn up a 26-page internal working paper outlining pastoral care and acute intervention in a NATO Article 5 scenario. The document, published quietly on church websites in late March, warns of a high number of wounded and fallen, prisoners of war on German soil, and unprecedented restrictions for civilians. Protestant military bishop Bernhard Felmberg defended the plan as necessary, saying it would be 'grossly negligent' not to be prepared.
Germany's two main Christian churches have drawn up a 26-page internal working paper outlining pastoral care and acute intervention in the event of a NATO Article 5 scenario, a document that warns of mass casualties, prisoners of war on German soil and unprecedented restrictions for civilians.
The paper, titled "Ökumenischen Rahmenkonzept Seelsorge und Akutintervention im Spannungs-, Bündnis- und Verteidigungsfall" (Ecumenical Framework Concept for Pastoral Care and Acute Intervention in Tension, Alliance and Defense Cases), was produced by the German Catholic Bishops' Conference (DBK) and the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD). It was published at the end of March on the churches' websites without a press release, placed in an obscure section of the DBK site under the rubric "Catholic Peace Work."
The document assumes that in the event of an attack on a NATO member, Germany would become a logistical hub. Based on the Russia-Ukraine war, it states that "a high number of wounded and fallen must be expected." It also warns of "restrictions for the civilian population on an unprecedented scale" that would generate "great uncertainty" and create a need for care. The paper notes that under an Article 5 scenario, prisoners of war would be housed in Germany.
Protestant military bishop Bernhard Felmberg defended the plan. "It would be grossly negligent if we were not capable of acting in a defense case," Felmberg said. "It is good and right to have this concept now – even if our greatest wish is that it can remain in the drawer forever."
Catholic military bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck had earlier called for adapting military chaplaincy training for a NATO Article 5 scenario, writing in a guest article for the magazine "Herder-Korrespondenz" in late February that an alliance case on NATO's eastern flank would require an "adjustment of training and instruction for military chaplaincy."
The paper was developed after talks with the Bundeswehr and is based on the "Operationsplan Deutschland" (Operations Plan Germany), which the military has been updating since 2024. It states that under the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war would be cared for by chaplains from their home nations, not German ones; German military chaplaincy would only need to attend to guard personnel.
There are currently around 200 Protestant and Catholic military chaplains in Germany. The paper raises the question of where additional chaplains would come from, noting that even the planned expansion of the Bundeswehr would require more military chaplains, and that reintroducing conscription would require additional chaplains to care for conscientious objectors.
The document insists that the churches' peace-ethical positions remain the foundation of their action and that the concept does not relativize those positions, but prepares for situations "in which all peace efforts have failed."