• English Site
• > SPIEGEL Blog

SPIEGEL's Daily Take

Mackin' for the Almighty with the 'Kiss-Me Girls'

America's "Kiss-Me Girls" are attracting the attention of Italian male suitors and the eyebrows of a few fuddy duddy priests with their offers of "free kisses" at World Youth Day. A new German generation rebels against its leftist 1968er parents by going conservative. Plus, are Niger's women starving because their husbands have locked up the food?

If you thought World Youth Day in Cologne was going to be all Bible-thumping and prayer sessions, think again. Though the city may not be living up to its reputation as the sin city of Catholicism -- many Catholic youth seem to be going as far as they can under the watchful eye of Pope Benedict XVI. Indeed, the pope isn't the only act attracting attention in the Rhine River metropolis. We hear some frisky Italian boys are flocking to the "Kiss-Me Girls," three cute-as-a-button Latinas from the United States soliciting some late-summer smooch action. Bianca Aguirre, Nayhelly Ochoa and Denise Sanchez have traveled thousands of miles for the faith fest. But they are not happy with one central tenet: No intercourse before exchanging vows.

"I want the pope to agree to sex before marriage as long as it's done safely," says Aguirre, an 18-year-old from Chicago, who's holding a Mexican flag to her shirt.

The girls have a soft spot for the flocks of flirtatious Italian boys swarming Cologne's narrow streets for World Youth Day -- they're sooooo cute and totally friendly! "I want to take one home with me," one says. Another girl quips: "I wanna take home seven!!!"

But for now these girls are content kissing and partying. "It's like Mardi Gras in New Orleans," says Aguirre, "but a holy Mardi Gras." (Daniela Gerson)

Ab Fab German-Style: the New Young Conservatives

In the 1960s and 1970s the typical young German had long hair, lived in a squat and enjoyed the odd street battle with the police. Their kids, however, are proving to be radically different. A new study shows that they're downright conservative -- more inclined to think about establishing a pension than a new world order.

That's according to a new study by the market research group Forsa commissioned by the magazines Stern and Neon. Two-thousand Germans between the ages of 19 and 30 were asked about politics, society and their own lives. The results have revealed a placidly conservative generation which tends to be law-abiding and religious.

In keeping with the theme of this week's Catholic World Youth Day in Cologne, 45 percent of German young people believe in God and a third pray regularly. As for politics, 34 percent say they would vote for Angela Merkel of the center-right Christian Democrats party, compared to 30 percent who support the Social Democrat chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Seventy-one percent have even started paying into a pension scheme. And while their parents' generation wasn't averse to the odd bit of vandalism, or even terrorism, to further a just cause, three quarters of today's young people say they adhere strictly to society's laws.

German commentators looking at the survey have rejoiced in what they see as young people's optimism -- unlike older generations, who are pessimistically looking askance at reforms to the country's creaking social welfare system, 54 percent of young Germans say they are optimistic about the future. However, this does also mean that almost half of them aren't actually optimistic. If they're feeling down in their twenties, just imagine how dreary they'll feel by the time they hit 60.

According to the youth researcher Jürgen Zinnecker, the cautious conservatism of young Germans is a result of the insecurities of today's fast changing world. "Young people try to attach themselves to what is reliable," he said in an interview with Stern magazine. But at least one thing is still the same. Young people are still rebelling against their parents. But this time, they're doing it by being normal.

The Death of the Saint of Taizé

Catholic World Youth Day celebrations were dampened this week as pilgrims got the shocking news of the murder of Brother Roger of Taizé. The 90-year-old Protestant monk was stabbed by a Rumanian woman during evening prayers on Tuesday in France.

Brother Roger, with his genuine humility and saintly life, was always a shining example of the beauty of the faith.

The 36-year-old woman who stabbed the monk didn't deny the attack. Her lawyer said that "she just wanted to get his attention and didn't want to kill him."

Brother Roger, Louis was born in Switzerland in 1915 and first went to Taizé in France in 1940, where he set up a farm to harbor Jews, dissidents and resistance fighters fleeing from the Nazis. After the war established up a community there with seven men who took vows of celibacy, chastity and obedience. This later became the largest youth pilgrimage center in the world. Every year up to 200,000 young pilgrims pitch their tents in the mud and put up with the nearly indigestible food -- the meals alone are a severe test to anyone's faith.

The murder not only shocked pilgrims in Cologne, but received condemnation from leaders all over the world, including German President Horst Köhler and French Minister President Dominique de Villepin.

The monk's last public appearance was at Pope John Paul's funeral. During mass the then Cardinal Ratzinger surprised the congregation by allowing Brother Roger to participate in Holy Communion, normally forbidden for Protestants.

Niger's Men Are Hoarding Food as Their Wives and Children Go Hungry

Women are suffering disproportionately from acute hunger in Niger because men in some villages are hoarding food. According to a report in British newspaper The Independent on Thursday, women are often unable to access aid supplies, and the little food remaining is kept under lock and key by their husbands.

Unicef has described how village elders have prevented women from contacting aid agencies. These men claim sole responsibility to speak on behalf of their villages and the right to receive emergency aid supplies.

The paper tells the tragic story of Noura Abdurrahi, a mother of four children, who is unable to feed her family. The 33 year old cannot gain access to a food store in her own hut as the food supplies have been locked away by her husband.

"We have millet and sorghum at the back of our hut, but we are not allowed to get it," she told The Independent's correspondent, Kim Sengupta. "The room was bolted by my husband when he went to Nigeria to find a job and his father and brothers have the key. They say it is up to me to feed my children...A lot of families round here are in the same situation. There is nothing we can do."

Unicef refuses to deal with villages where the organization is not permitted to make direct contact with women. But the charity is fighting an uphill battle in some villages to deliver aid to those who need it most.

The terrible irony is that in many villages groups of women can take much of the credit for staving off outright famine. According to a report published by CARE International last week, women's savings groups, which the charity helped to establish, have eased conditions in the some of the worst affected areas.

Members of these collectives have been encouraged to save money and grain over the past few years, and their efforts are now starting to pay off. Loeitita Raymond, spokeswoman for CARE International, said, "The women I met in the savings groups are much less affected by the crisis than those who are not...When the crisis began, some members of the group who traded cereals sold part of their stock at a low price to other women in the group who were without food and who were unable to afford to buy it at full price."

Press reports have repeatedly shown that many parts of Niger do not lack food supplies per se. The problem is such foodstuffs are far too expensive. Women's groups are selling their supplies at well below market price to those most in need, so nobody in their villages goes hungry.

Many of Niger's women are no doubt praying their men folk start to acknowledge this remarkable contribution and allow some of the country's most vulnerable people the help and sustenance they urgently require.