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Eastern Europe
Ukrainians seek comfort in church
As tensions between Ukraine and Russia rise, Ukrainian Christians are strengthened in their faith. “People are open to Jesus like never before.” About 40 kilometres from the Russian border, in the Kharkiv region, pastor Anton Tishenko and his church – the New Generation Church – are having 21- day period…
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Southern Europe
Spanish evangelicals raise their voice over freedom restrictions
Spanish evangelicals express their concern over “restrictions on levels of freedom” by their authorities. They are especially worried about the “privileges” of LGBTI groups. According to the Spanish Evangelical Alliance civil liberties are at stake. The Evangelical Alliance, therefore, made statement, together with, twelve denominations and evangelical entities The evangelicals…
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Northern Europe
Danish Court: Blood transfusion to unconscious Jehovah's Witness was legal
Is it illegal to give an unconscious patient a blood transfusion that he probably does not want for religious reasons? The Danish Supreme Court does not think it is. The court ruled so in a case where a member of the faith community Jehovah's Witnesses underwent a blood transfusion in…
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Central Europe
Muslim women Austria worried about headscarf ban for teachers
Muslim women in Austria are concerned about a possible headscarf ban for female teachers. A side letter to the Austrian government mentioned it as a supplementary agreement. The side letter states that “in the sphere of activity of the Ministry of Education, a headscarf ban for female teachers will be…
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Central Europe
German cardinal wants to abolish celibacy for clergy
The Archbishop of Munich, Reinhard Marx, argues for the abolition of mandatory celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church. “For some priests, it would be better if they were married”, Marx said. Marx (66) does not plead for the total abolition of a celibate life. However, he questions the statement that…
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Northern Europe
Swedish bishop has to resign after affair
The bishop of the Church of Sweden in Visby, Thomas Petersson, is dismissed from his office. The reason was a long-term extramarital affair. The leadership of the church could not accept this. It was the Board of Responsibility for Bishops that decided to expel the bishop. This decision means that…
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Central Europe
Every third German wants a CDU without C
One in three Germans (35 per cent) favour skipping the C (for Christian) in the party name CDU. Especially older people think it is better to do without. Another third is opposed to deleting the Christian part. The Protestant news agency Idea researched this, in cooperation with research institute INSA-Consulere.…
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Central Europe
German churches lose more people in 2021 than in 2020
In 2021, many more people in Germany left one of the two leading folk churches (Protestant and Catholic) than in 2020. That was the result of research done by the Christian press agency Idea in the 15 largest German cities. In percentages, the number of leavers rose most in the…
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Northern Europe
Sweden demands Christian school to stop table prayers
Having a table prayer at a kindergarten is wrong. That is the opinion of the municipality of Flen, 100 kilometres west of Stockholm in Sweden. They demand changes. It started when municipal supervisors visited the Christian nursery school Ålidenskolan. Their supervision report described how the table prayer was connected with…
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Western Europe
European Jews ask to stop selling book about Anne Frank
The European Jewish Congress (EJC) has sent an urgent request to Harper Collins Publishers in New York to withdraw the book “The betrayal of Anne Frank”. The letter was sent Tuesday evening. Dr Moshe Kantor, president of the EJC, asks the company to stop the sales and distance itself from…
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