A German bishop has sharply criticised the far-right AfD party for appropriating Christian language in pursuit of secular and exclusionary aims.

Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg condemned the party’s attempts to present itself under a “Christian guise” as hypocritical, arguing that such rhetoric masks a deeper disregard for human dignity.

Feige’s rebuke comes in response to the AfD’s increasing efforts to edge into the moral terrain historically claimed by the churches. He pointed out that one of the party’s leading figures, Beatrix von Storch, had taken part in a public anti-abortion march in Germany but had also called for refugees to be shot.