A grinning selfie taken by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder on the way to Pope Francis’ funeral has triggered widespread condemnation, fueling fresh criticism of Germany’s political elite for their uncouth disregard of decorum and Christian values.
The image, shared on social media by Steinmeier and Söder themselves, showed the two smiling broadly inside a government vehicle en route to the Vatican ceremony. The timing and tone of the post, as one might expect, drew immediate backlash from both conservative commentators and ordinary citizens, who accused the officials of turning a sacred event into a moment of personal vanity.
“Two of the nation’s top officials acting like schoolboys on a class trip—only the beer cans are missing,” remarked Frédéric Schwilden in Die Welt, one of Germany’s papers of record, calling it a “godless neglect of political culture.”
In stark contrast, representatives of the primary opposition party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), who were also present in Rome, conducted themselves with a markedly different tone. Nicole Höchst, Member of the Bundestag, and Petr Bystron, Member of the European Parliament, attended the funeral as official representatives of the AfD. Both abstained from media theatrics, maintaining a quiet and reverent presence during the solemn ceremony.
“Pope Francis always stood up for the weak and marginalized,” said Höchst in a statement ahead of the funeral. “His legacy reminds us, as political representatives, to assume responsibility for social cohesion.”
Bystron, speaking from Rome, added: “Regardless of political differences, we honor Pope Francis as a voice of morality and conscience in an increasingly secularized world. With our participation, we wish to underline the enduring importance of the Catholic Church for Europe’s identity and the preservation of Christian values.”
Die Bundestagsabgeordnete Nicole Höchst und der Europaabgeordnete Petr Bystron nehmen als offizielle Vertreter der Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) am Begräbnis von Papst Franziskus in Rom teil.
Mit ihrer Anwesenheit würdigen sie nicht nur das weltweite Wirken des verstorbenen… pic.twitter.com/HrjfhpAILD
— Petr Bystron (@PetrBystronAfD) April 26, 2025
The selfie incident is the latest in a series of perceived embarrassments involving Germany’s governing officials. Just days before the funeral, Berlin’s SPD Senator for Labor, Cansel Kiziltepe, stirred controversy by referring to Tesla vehicles as “Nazi cars” on social media, a remark widely condemned as trivializing the Holocaust. One user responded: “Those who make such comparisons degrade concentration camps to parking lots.”
Critics say these episodes reflect a deeper cultural malaise within Germany’s political establishment, one marked by an excess of vanity, disrespect for tradition, and a persistent double standard in how political behavior is judged.
While AfD, the boogieman for Germany’s globalist establishment, is frequently accused of failing to uphold proper conduct, it was the party’s own representatives who upheld a standard of dignity in Rome, while top officials from the ruling coalition drew criticism for unbecoming conduct.
Notably absent from the funeral was CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who has positioned himself as a future chancellor. His nonappearance drew attention as world leaders such as Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron used the occasion to engage in symbolic gestures of diplomacy and unity.
The absence was criticized by conservative economist and former Bundestag candidate Prof. Max Otte, who commented: “Angela Merkel, Robert Habeck, Annalena Baerbock, and Olaf Scholz have ruined Germany. Friedrich Merz will now likely become its insolvency administrator, liquidator, and asset manager.”
The episode in Rome that Söder and Steinmeier are surely anxious to put behind them has highlighted what many see as the widening gulf between the political class and the values of ordinary Germans. While establishment politicians take selfies and trade insults online, the AfD continues to position itself as the only serious political outfit in Germany and the voice of traditional values, national dignity, and Christian heritage.
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