Cooperation with the Catholic Military Episcopate (Germany)

The German Catholic Military Episcopate (KMBA) and the ZFG have been cooperating since 2002 on an open-ended basis. The core of the cooperation is the research of the effects of the military profession on partnership, family and education.

At the ZFG preventive initiatives and publications are developed on the basis of the research findings. In addition to the involved soldiers, their relatives and caregivers, these also specifically apply to the supporting pastoral care and psychosocial network to make it easier to cope with specific stresses and strains in the context of the military profession.

The current focus is on the consequences of long-distance relationships and the Bundeswehr as a "commuter army" (weekend relationships), the effects of the high level of relocation mobility, fears and anxiety of relatives (especially children) in the context of foreign missions, the development of values and the mental health (psycho-hygiene) of military chaplains.

To date, the staff of the ZFG has conducted about 350 intensive events, mostly in cooperation with the Catholic Military Episcopate, but also for the Federal Ministry of Defense and in cooperation with the Protestant Church Office for the German Armed Forces, for and with the Psychosocial Network of the German Armed Forces or also for the Commissioner for the Armed Forces of the German Bundestag.