Catholic bishops meeting in the city of Augsburg this week strongly condemned the rise of ethnic nationalism and right-wing extremism in German society.

"Right-wing extremist parties and those that run rampant on the fringes of this ideology can therefore not be a place of political activity for Christians and are also not electable," they said in a statement.

On this point, the bishops made an explicit reference to the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD). They said the party's beliefs are "incompatible with the Christian image of God and humankind."

The statement is highly unusual because for the past 25 years, the Catholic bishops have been reluctant to offer any assessments of political parties.

The head of the Bishops' Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, explained that the more than 60 bishops deliberated at length over making a statement, but agreed it was necessary. He also pointed out that the declaration had been adopted unanimously.

"After several spurts of radicalization," the statement reads, "the AfD is now dominated by a nationalistic attitude." It goes on to point out that the AfD oscillates between genuine........

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