The Concordat of 2009 between the Holy See and the Land of Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

 is an agreement between the Catholic Church in its temporal form and the state of Schleswig-Holstein that was signed on Monday 12 January 2009 was signed in Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

, in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

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The concordat

Concordat

A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...

 is an agreement between the Holy See and the Land Schleswig-Holstein, which regulates relations between the Catholic Church and the Land.

For the Holy See has signed, as Plenipotentiary, His Excellency Archbishop Jean-Claude Périsset, Apostolic Nuncio to Germany.

For the Land Schleswig-Holstein, the Minister-President, Mr Peter Harry Carstensen

Peter Harry Carstensen

Peter Harry Carstensen is a German politician, in the Christian Democratic Union party.Since 2005 he has been Minister President of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, serving as President of the Bundesrat in 2005/06....

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Present at the ceremony were:

for the Church, S.E. Archbishop Werner Thissen, archbishop of Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, SE Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke, Auxiliary Bishop of Hamburg, Mr. Karl-Heinz Schmieniann, legal advisor of the Archdiocese of Hamburg; Mrs. Beate Bäumer, Director of the Catholic Institute of Schleswig-Holstein, Mr. Eckehardt Doppke, representative of ' Catholic Office of Schleswig-Holstein, the Rev. Leo Sunderdiek, Provost and Dean of Kiel; Monsignor Stephan Stocker, Director of the Apostolic Nunciature in Germany;

for the state, the Secretary of State Mr Heinz Maurus, head of the State Chancellery, the Lady Ute ERDSIEK-Rave, Minister for Education and Women, Mr. Lothar Hay, Minister of Interior, Mr. Wemer Marnette, Minister for Science for the Economy and the Traffic, Mr. Christian Hauck, spokesman of the Government; Mrs. Ute Schmidt, a representative of the Protocol; Councilor Ministeriale Mr Raju Sharrna, Referee for the Church at the State Chancellery.

This agreement, which consists of 24 articles, regulates the legal position of the Catholic Church in Schleswig-Holstein. Among other things, lays down rules about the teaching of Catholic religion in public schools, recognizing the state of schools in ecclesiastical administration, the university, the activities of the Church in the pastoral areas, health and socio-charitable, tax ecclesiastica and care of church entities to protect monuments. In short, it recognized the role of the Catholic Church in the society of the Land Schleswig-Holstein.