In Nuremberg, around 20,000 people celebrated the beginning of the multi-day meeting of faith. In his speech, President Steinmeier addressed a dilemma faced by many Christians – and defended the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
In the run-up, there had been criticism that the Kirchentag, for which, according to the organizers, around 60,000 tickets had been sold by the beginning, is also financed by public money. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder rejected a replacement of state benefits for the churches in Germany.