{"id":75177,"date":"2026-02-05T17:47:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T16:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/news\/2026\/02\/support-for-all-humanist-military-chaplaincy-in-the-bundeswehr-on-february-26-2026-in-berlin\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T13:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T12:32:10","slug":"support-for-all-humanist-military-chaplaincy-in-the-bundeswehr-on-february-26-2026-in-berlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/news\/press-release\/2026\/02\/support-for-all-humanist-military-chaplaincy-in-the-bundeswehr-on-february-26-2026-in-berlin\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Support for all: Humanist military chaplaincy in the Bundeswehr&#8221; on February 26, 2026 in Berlin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Ladies and Gentlemen,<\/p>\n\n<p>To mark the publication of the anthology &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/xuyjg.mjt.lu\/lnk\/AVcAAI05BNYAAc59CooAAJR0_cYAAAAAUUwAoECTABIcHwBphKvmjuHs7maBQ96-hrX7k3pbmwAJFyQ\/2\/A6OI9UJEEeuZj29HPOfrMA\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWxpYnJpLmRlL1Nob3AvUHJvZHVrdGRldGFpbC9Qcm9kdWN0SUQvMjgxMA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Assistance for All<\/a>&#8220;, the Humanist Association of Germany &#8211; Federal Association and the Humanist Academy of Germany invite you to an evening event that will highlight a significant gap in the Bundeswehr. The volume, published by Alibri Verlag, brings together well-founded contributions from science, practice and politics and raises a question that is as topical as it is urgent. <\/p>\n\n<p>How can pastoral care in the Bundeswehr do justice to all soldiers &#8211; including those with a secular-humanist worldview?<\/p>\n\n<p>The Bundeswehr is changing, as is society. More and more soldiers are shaping their lives independently of religion and are orienting themselves towards secular values &#8211; but so far without a corresponding pastoral care service. Particularly in existential stress situations, there is a need for people who can provide respectful support and share the conviction that meaning and morality can be found within our world. This is precisely where <a href=\"https:\/\/xuyjg.mjt.lu\/lnk\/AVcAAI05BNYAAc59CooAAJR0_cYAAAAAUUwAoECTABIcHwBphKvmjuHs7maBQ96-hrX7k3pbmwAJFyQ\/3\/h39gwgjcRsbsEKjb7rdxQQ\/aHR0cHM6Ly9odW1hbmlzbXVzLmRlL2h1bWFuaXN0aXNjaGUtbWlsaXRhZXJzZWVsc29yZ2Uv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">humanistic military chaplaincy<\/a> comes in: It offers support on the basis of self-determination, reason and human solidarity &#8211; and sees itself as a contemporary, necessary addition to existing services.  <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Support for all: Humanist military chaplaincy in the Bundeswehr<\/strong><br\/><strong>Thursday, February 26, 2026, 7 to 9 p.m.<\/strong><br\/><strong>House of HUMANISM, Potsdamer Str. 157, 10783 Berlin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>Course of the evening:<\/p>\n\n<p>19:00 Welcome and official presentation of the book<\/p>\n\n<p>19:20 Short presentation by <strong>Colonel (retired) Dr. Thorsten Weber<\/strong><br\/>View of the Federal Ministry of Defence on the further development of military chaplaincy<\/p>\n\n<p>19:45 Panel discussion<br\/>Moderation: <strong>J\u00fcrgen Angelow<\/strong> (editor and historian)<br\/>Panel:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Erwin Kamp<\/strong> (former head of the Humanist Military Chaplaincy in the Netherlands)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Robert Pittorf<\/strong> (former team soldier in the German Armed Forces)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sven Thale<\/strong> (Federal Representative of the Humanist Association of Germany for Humanist Pastoral Care in Institutions)  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>20:20 Transition to the open exchange with snacks and drinks<\/p>\n\n<p>The evening will be hosted by <strong>Franziska Schneider<\/strong>, Federal Managing Director of the Humanist Association of Germany &#8211; Federal Association.<br\/><br\/>The topic of military chaplaincy is currently receiving increased public attention. One of the reasons for this is a recently published study commissioned by the Protestant military chaplaincy, see also <a href=\"https:\/\/xuyjg.mjt.lu\/lnk\/AVcAAI05BNYAAc59CooAAJR0_cYAAAAAUUwAoECTABIcHwBphKvmjuHs7maBQ96-hrX7k3pbmwAJFyQ\/4\/09bZ51kmcWn3-Bo5X_phwA\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubWRyLmRlL25hY2hyaWNodGVuL2RldXRzY2hsYW5kL2dlc2VsbHNjaGFmdC92aWRlby05ODgxNzh-YW1wLmh0bWw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MDR aktuell<\/a> from February 1. The Humanist Association of Germany &#8211; Federal Association with its offer of humanist military chaplaincy was also taken up in the reporting, see <a href=\"https:\/\/xuyjg.mjt.lu\/lnk\/AVcAAI05BNYAAc59CooAAJR0_cYAAAAAUUwAoECTABIcHwBphKvmjuHs7maBQ96-hrX7k3pbmwAJFyQ\/5\/ICf6Kr3arTLGjX-VWEJnVA\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGV1dHNjaGxhbmRmdW5rLmRlL21pbGl0YWVyc2VlbHNvcmdlLWJlaS1kZXItYnVuZGVzd2Voci1pbnRlcnZpZXctbWl0LWRlbS1odW1hbmlzdGVuLXN2ZW4tdGhhbGUtMTAwLmh0bWw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DLF in an interview with Sven Thale<\/a> on January 30.  <\/p>\n\n<p>If you have not already done so, we kindly ask you to confirm your participation by February 16 at <a href=\"mailto:hvd@humanismus.de\">hvd@humanismus.de<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>Press inquiries on the topic can be sent to us in advance: <a href=\"mailto:presse@humanismus.de\">presse@humanismus.de.<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>We appreciate your interest and your participation.<\/p>\n\n<p>Yours sincerely, <br\/>Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands &#8211; Bundesverband<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Humanist Association of Germany &#8211; Federal Association and the Humanist Academy of Germany cordially invite you to the evening event &#8220;Support for all: Humanist military chaplaincy in the Bundeswehr&#8221;. The focus will be on the question of why the Bundeswehr, if it wants to appeal to all levels of society, also needs humanist chaplaincy &#8211; and why this debate is particularly necessary right now. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":74272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75178,"href":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75177\/revisions\/75178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humanismus.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}