provides aid for social projects in Burkina Faso. In 2010, Von Westphalen was the first signatory to the Aktion Linkstrend stoppen, which opposed the Berlin Declaration of the Christian Democratic Union's leadership to change economic positions. She accused the German Catholic Scouting Association of Saint George of allowing alcohol and promoting the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, which she called "propaganda from the gay lobby". She signed the Marburger Declaration of 2009, for the "freedom and self-determination against totalitarian aspirations of the Lesbian and Gay Associations". She considered homosexuality as a "considerable health and psychological risk", and accused the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany of attacking conversion therapy, which she believed limited the "freedom of assembly, speech, scientific discourse, and the choice of therapy." Awards and honors In 2002, Von Westphalen was created a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul II. She was made a Dame of Honor and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. She was awarded the Federal Cross of the Order of Merit by the German federal government. Personal life Von Westphalen was married to Count August von Westphalen zu Fürstenberg and had six children. She lived with her family in her husband's family home, Schloss Laer, in Meschede. After the death of her mother in 1992, Von Westphalen encouraged her father to allow the Catholic congregation Servants of Jesus and Mary to use the family castle, Haus Assen. Von Westphalen died on 21 January 2016 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. References 1936 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Dames Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great Dames of Malta Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German anti-abortion activists German Roman Catholics German countesses German people of Czech descent People from Lippstadt Roman Catholic activists Von Galen family Von Westphalen family