Today, Olaf Scholz becomes Germany’s new Chancellor. Last month, I reflected on the legacy of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s on BBC Radio Ulster’s Thought for the Day.
You can listen here, or read the text below.
“We can do This”
Sixteen years ago, Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany. This year, she leaves office as the longest-serving head of government in the European Union and one of the most popular leaders in German history.
Her leadership spanned that of four American presidents and five British prime ministers, a longevity that made her the de facto leader of the free world.
Merkel grew up in communist East Germany during the Cold War, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor.
But this daughter of the parsonage, and leader of a party called the Christian Democrats, has rarely spoken about her faith. Perhaps this has been a canny political ploy, an acknowledgement that it is better to keep quiet about faith when leading a diverse nation. This was the attitude of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spin doctor Alistair Campbell. He famously interrupted Blair as he started to talk about his faith, proclaiming: ‘we don’t do God’.
I’m not convinced that Merkel didn’t ‘do God’. In recent years politicians in the United States, Russia and parts of Europe have invoked the Christian God to promote narrowly nationalistic political projects. Merkel stood as a counter-witness, patiently practising a politics of the possible that reminds me of the advice attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi: ‘Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words’.
During the refugee crisis in 2015, opponents on the right criticized Merkel for keeping Germany’s borders open. Unusually, she invoked her faith, saying that her party had been founded on Christian principles like compassion and welcoming the stranger.
In Ireland, we well know that faith does not make leaders infallible. And it could be argued that Merkel’s policies on refugees, climate change, and other matters have not gone far enough.
But Merkel encouraged her people to accept the refugees with words that became a catchphrase in Germany: ‘We can do this’. In a world where profound challenges remain, we would do well to take her words to heart.