"This is like Nazi Germany" Müller said, according to a blog post by author Rod Dreher.

Müller added that the authorities were acting "like the SA" — Hitler's brownshirts who used violence and intimidation against opponents.

Despite protests and police blockades at the entrances, the National Conservatism conference was earlier allowed to continue.

However, Mayor Emir Kir issued an order to halt the April 16-17 conference.

In a statement, Mayor Kir cited concerns over the conference's conservative stance on issues such as abortion and same-sex unions.

"Among these personalities are several participants, particularly from the right-wing conservative, religious right and the European far right" his statement reads. And: "The extreme right is not welcome".

Belgium's highest court later overturned the decision to shut down the conference, allowing it to continue.

Freedom of expression

The conference, organised by the Edmund Burke Foundation, aims to advocate for conservatism intertwined with national identity and traditions.

The organisers said around 600 participants were expected to attend the event.

Among the notable speakers were Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Brexit proponent Nigel Farage and German aristocrat Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis.

The event has been held in various capitals including Rome, London and Washington DC since its founding in 2019.

Nigel Farage, the controversial British politician, called the attempted shutdown "a disgrace" and accused the EU of becoming the "new form of communism".

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo also condemned the attempted shutdown. He asserted the "ban on political assemblies is unconstitutional".

"Municipal autonomy is a cornerstone of our democracy, but it can never override the Belgian constitution which has guaranteed freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly since 1830″ concluded De Croo.

Belgian lawyer Wouter Vaassen who represents ADF International, a Christian legal group that opposes threats to religious liberty, called the attempt to shut down the controversial conference "unjust". He said it "should never have happened, especially in Brussels—the political heart of Europe".

"We must diligently protect our fundamental freedoms lest censorship become the norm in our supposedly free societies" he added.

Sources

Catholic News Agency

Katholisch

Catholic Herald

In a statement, they said the Catholic bishops under the Nazi regime did not oppose the war of annihilation started by Germany or the crimes the regime committed.

They also said the Nazi-era bishops gave the war a religious meaning.

Bishop Georg Batzing, who is the president of the German bishops' conference, says critics have accused the Church of failing not only to remember its role, but also of not owning up to it.

"We must not sit back, but carry the legacy into the future," he told a news conference.

"This is all the more true given that Europe does not seem to be in a good state at the moment."

Batzing says the "old demon of division, nationalism, ‘ethnic' thinking and authoritarian rule" is appearing in many places.

"Terrifying anti-Semitism is widespread, even here in Germany," he says.

He told the news conference that anyone who has learned the lessons of history must vehemently oppose these tendencies.

"This applies without ifs and buts to the Church, which is committed to the gospel of peace and justice."

Source

• The Catholic Universe
• Image: Holocaust Encyclopaedia - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum