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Central Europe
German Catholic Church faces record-breaking member decline
Never before did so many people leave the German Roman Catholic Church. In 2021, 359,338 Germans turned their back on the Church. Members of the German clergy speak of a crisis. The number was announced on Monday at the German Bishops' Conference (DBK). DBK chairman Georg Bätzing was “deeply shocked…
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Northern Europe
Swedish Christian Democrats want to defend abortion against conservatives
Following the American Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, the Swedish Christian Democrats launched an “abortion contract”. All parliamentary parties should promise to uphold Sweden’s (liberal) abortion legislation by signing it. The Christian Democrats have, over the years, been accused of wanting to restrict the right to abortion.…
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Western Europe
Dutch Christian Democrats plea for liberalisation embryo research
The Dutch Christian Democrats are swifting to defend embryo research in the case of inherited genetic disease. “Where suffering can be solved, we have a moral obligation to do so.” The scientific institute of the governing Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) released a report on the research of embryos on Monday.…
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Northern Europe
Norway bans conversion therapy
The Norwegian government has passed a proposal that criminalises therapies that aim to change someone's sexual orientation. However, this proposal is not undisputed. Soon, conversion therapies will be forbidden in Norway. Anyone violating this rule can be fined or imprisoned for up to six years. That is reported by Vårt…
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Northern Europe
Swedish study: Christian upbringing not crucial for keeping faith
Compared to Christian young people in other countries, surprisingly, many in Sweden state that their parents are not the most decisive factor for their own faith. Most individuals who leave the church have often experienced the faith as demanding or that they have not been allowed to discuss more complex…
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Central Europe
Poland rejects abortion proposal
A bill to legalise abortion has been rejected in the Polish parliament. The draft was a civil initiative signed by over 200,000 people. Marta Lempart, leader of Women's Strike, the organisation that spearheaded mass abortion protests last year, presented the bill to the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish…
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Central Europe
Swiss Christians want to keep mentions of God in constitution
A Christian Swiss political association does not want the mentions of 'Almighty God' and 'Creation' removed from the country's Constitution. The political association Christian Public Affairs (CPA) published an argument on June 20th on its site, a few days after the National Council again publicly restated its refusal to follow…
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Central Europe
German Protestant church leader accuses Kirill of “blasphemy”
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill is guilty of “blasphemy” for justifying Russia's war with Ukraine, according to EKD Council Chairwoman, Anette Kurschus. The president of the EKD, a Protestant denomination in Germany, accused the Russian Church leader in a speech she gave during a reception in Berlin last week. Kurschus referred…
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Central Europe
Journalistic prize for gender-critical article in Germany
A prestigious German journalistic prize has been awarded to a journalist who wrote a gender-critical article. The jury found it to be a “brave text against the mainstream opinion”. Journalist Ingo Meyer won the Theodor Wolff Prize in the Opinion category for a critical text on the subject of gender…
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Central Europe
German victim starts lawsuit against Pope Benedict
One of the victims of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria has filed a lawsuit against several church leaders. One of them is Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He is accused of protecting the perpetrators of abuse. If the prosecution succeeds, the retired Pope will have to appear…
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