The President of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN), Volker Jung, will slow down a little in the future.

At the synod of the state church in Offenbach, he supported the demand made by the Evangelical Church in Germany for a speed limit on German roads.

He also campaigned for the voluntary commitment not to drive service vehicles faster than 100 kilometers per hour on motorways and 80 kilometers per hour on country roads in a church context.

Bernhard Biener

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung

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Jung, who has recently been driving an electric car, also wants to stick to it.

However, the subject was not on the agenda for a vote at the synod that ended on Saturday.

Unlike the synod of the EKD in early November, which wants to support political efforts to limit the speed limit to 120 km/h on the freeways.

The church, whose message includes the task of preserving creation, must deal intensively with the challenges of climate protection, Jung said after a statement by the EKHN.

This includes mobility.

It's not about a "new climate police" on the highways, but about consciously dealing with the issue and taking action.

In this context, the church president defended the climate activists of the group “Last Generation”.

Of course, methods such as road blockades or protests in museums must be discussed.

But the predominantly young activists should not simply be criminalized.

It is "young people who are deeply moved and very conscious" who chose the path of "peaceful civil disobedience" to warn of the life-destroying consequences of climate change.

Therefore, the church dialogue with the "last generation" is required.

The synod in Offenbach paved the way for a sustainable energy transition on Saturday.

In the long term, the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau wants to supply its more than 1,100 congregations and institutions with all of their own electricity.

The 100 photovoltaic systems on church roofs to date cover around a third of the entire requirement.

It is now planned to set up more solar systems on the roofs of church buildings and solar parks on church areas.

In addition, talks were being held with operators of wind power and photovoltaic systems, reported the responsible head of the real estate department.