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Western Europe
Dutch cabinet advises school to ban smartphone from the classroom
Starting on January 1 2024, smartphones should be taboo in classrooms. The Dutch Ministry of Education has published a new guideline that advises this. Only when the use of a smartphone is absolutely necessary, for example, for medical reasons, it should be allowed, the advice of the government reads, as…
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Northern Europe
Norwegian Bible game should bring Gospel to young people
What would it be like to walk through the streets of Jerusalem at the time Jesus was preaching there? A new game will show you. Ten employees of the Church of Norway have been thinking full-time about the question. They are working on a game that should bring the Gospel…
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European Union
Hungary wants to prioritise family during its EU Council presidency
Family and population policy should be higher on the EU agenda. That is what Hungary plans to do when it takes over the six-month EU Council presidency next year. In July 2024, Hungary will take over the leadership of the EU Council. Family policy will be at the centre of…
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Northern Europe
Norwegian Methodist priest can perform same-sex marriage
The annual conference of the Norwegian Methodist Church has permitted priests to marry “whomever they want”, including gay couples. It is up to individuals to assess whether they can marry queers, Knut Refsdal, a supervisory priest in the Methodist Church and head of the Committee for the Church's Future. The…
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Eastern Europe
Kyiv not able to seal Orthodox monastery yet
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian government commission could not seal the famous Lavra monastery in Kyiv. Activists of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) blocked the access. It is not clear what will happen now. This was reported by several Ukrainian media, like the Union of Orthodox Journalists and The New Voice…
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Eastern Europe
Russian authorities label the Jewish leader as a foreign agent
Russian authorities labelled the former Chief Rabbi of Moscow a “foreign agent,” suggesting spying. But Mr. Goldschmidt does not care about this. On the contrary. Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt is proud of his new “foreign agent” title. He says so to the Russian news outlet IRP.news. “I am proud to stand…
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Central Europe
Child is no sexual being, Austrian parents say in petition
In Austria, educators, parents and experts are calling for the immediate stopping of harmful content in sex education. Too often, the child is approached as a “sexual being”, the protesters say. With a petition, pedagogues, doctors, psychologists, other experts, and parents are calling on the political leaders in Austria to…
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Western Europe
France: how Catholic schools struggle with their confession
Catholic schools in France are struggling with their identity. Their policies regularly provoke discussions. The meaning of the term ‘Catholic school' is no longer self-evident in France, says Anne-Laure Zwilling, a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research. In a society increasingly foreign to religion, this causes struggles…
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Central Europe
Criticism on German euthanasia bill arises
The German Bundestag will discuss the possibilities of a new end-of-life law on Thursday. But the Protestant Church disagrees with that. The Protestant Church of Germany does not support the two proposals that are up for debate. A statement of the church read on Thursday that the EKD is “resolutely…
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Western Europe
French church targeted by vandals
“The last prophet is Mohamed.” These words must have been a shock for the pastor of an Evangelical Protestant Church in Marseille when he read them on his church. When the pastor and his congregation came to their house of worship last Wednesday, they were confronted by smashed windows, doors…
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