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Central Europe
Church service in Vienna with coloured socks because of Down Syndrome Day
Next Sunday, people with Down’s syndrome will conduct a service with cathedral priest Toni Faber in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Austria’s capital Vienna. Those present will wear colourful socks. The occasion is the International Day of People with Down Syndrome on 21 March. “Every person is unique, and no two…
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Eastern Europe
YouTube bans channel from Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox federal channel Spas has been removed from YouTube. It now switches to the Russian counterpart of the American video company. Spas had over 1 million subscribers on YouTube when the Google company blocked the channel earlier this week. According to the Orthodox news website Ortho Christian, the…
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Central Europe
German churches don't rule out assisted suicide
German churches do not want to rule out option of assisted suicide in church institutions. The Roman Catholic bishops and leading clergymen of the Protestant churches in Lower Saxony and Bremen (Germany) have published a joined declaration on the issue. Simultaneously, the German government wants to reconsider the national legislation…
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Central Europe
Closure for Protestant school for Journalism
The Evangelische Journalistenschule, the Protestant school for journalists, in Berlin closes definitively. The supervisory board of its sponsor, the Gemeinschaftswerk der Evangelischen Publizistik (GEP), decided to close the school for financial reasons. It expects a decline in church tax revenue by 2030, IDEA reports. Furthermore, the austerity measures in the…
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Eastern Europe
Russian Evangelical Alliance apologises for Putin's military invasion of Ukraine
The Russian Evangelical Alliance regrets the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In an open letter to believers worldwide, its Secretary-General, Vitaly Vlasenko, apologises to all people suffering from the war. In his letter, Vlasenko expresses regret for the decisions of the leadership of his country. “All these events cause…
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Northern Europe
Christian preschool Sweden free to do table prayer
A Swedish preschool, named Åliden's preschool, does not have to pay a fine for saying table prayers. The Court ruled that the conditions for the penalty were not sufficiently specified by the municipality which handed out the fine. A Swedish preschool, named Åliden's preschool, does not have to pay a…
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Western Europe
Dutch Christian parties lose in local elections
In total, the Christian parties lost seats in the local elections during the last three days. However, the conservative Reformed SGP party gained votes compared to four years ago. The other two Dutch Christian parties, ChristenUnie (Christian Union) and CDA (Christian Democratic Appeal), lost votes compared to the municipal election…
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Eastern Europe
Russian Orthodox Church facing a test of strength, experts say
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is facing a “test of endurance” given the war in Ukraine. That is the opinion of the Swiss theologian and university lecturer Barbara Hallensleben. According to the Eastern Church expert, it is “intolerable” that the Moscow Patriarch Kirill does not condemn the “despicable” war in…
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Central Europe
Pastoral phoneline receives twice as many calls since war
Helpline “Telephone Doweria”, located in Berlin, has received twice as many calls from Ukraine as usual since the beginning of the war. The head of the service, Tatjana Michalak, said to Idea that the number of calls has doubled since Russian troops set foot on Ukrainian territory. According to her,…
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Central Europe
German Cardinal apologises to queer people
The German Cardinal Reinhard Marx from Munich has asked for an apology for the discrimination against homosexuals by the Roman Catholic Church. He was shocked that the discrimination was still ongoing, said Marx on Sunday evening during a so-called “queer service” in Munich. The Austrian Catholic Press Agency reports about…
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