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Southern Europe
Documentary shows Spanish Protestant resistance under Franco
In Catalonia, a documentary titled “Protestants: the silenced history” has been broadcast in different cities of the Spanish region since its premiere on 16 November. The film tells how Protestants were persecuted in the Barcelona area during the regime of General Franco (1939-1975). Evangelical Focus writes about it. The idea…
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Northern Europe
How to bury a non-Christian? Norwegians differ
Half of Norway’s population wants to have a church funeral. Yet, 90 per cent of the Norwegians still end up in a church after they have died. That is a problem, according to some. Many funerals do not turn out the way relatives had intended. And that hurts, writes the…
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European Union
Violent protest because of stricter corona policies
During demonstrations across Europe against the corona policy, violent confrontations with the police have occurred, especially in the Netherlands and Belgium. Meanwhile, in Germany, discussions are taking place on a compulsory vaccination. A large demonstration in Brussels on Sunday degenerated into a battle with the police. Media report several people…
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Northern Europe
Jews will run away from Norway, author says
The Jewish author in Norway, Monica Csango, holds Norwegian authorities responsible for Norwegian Jews feeling increasingly insecure. She expects that the Jewish community in the country will shrink in the coming years. “I am upset that as a minority in a country like Norway, I should go around feeling a…
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Northern Europe
Danish clergy falls victim to identity theft
Multiple Danish pastors have recently fallen victim to identity theft. According to them, the fraudsters exploit the “digitally vulnerable”. “Good morning. Do you have a minute?” This is how an email that several ward council members and church employees recently received begins. The recipients are asked to buy four iTunes…
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Central Europe
Polish clergy divided about how to handle border crisis
While Europe and Poland face a border crisis, the Polish clergy is divided about the people who are caught in the crossfire: migrants. Father Cordian is one of the few pastors who enter the border zone. He talks to people. Asks: what do you need? What are you afraid of?…
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Eastern Europe
Russian churches in Ukraine might have bank accounts blocked, expert says
The National Agency for Religious Affairs of Ukraine may block the bank accounts of the Russian Church in Ukraine if it continues to ignore the legislation requiring the renaming of its parishes. This was stated in an interview with the website Religna Pravda by the former head of the Committee…
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Western Europe
Dutch more positive about cremation
Cremation is getting increasingly popular in the Netherlands. Among Christians, Catholics are more positive about it than protestants. Six in ten of the Dutch want to be cremated after death. More than a third of the people whose parents still opted for burial choose cremation themselves. Nearly half of the…
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Central Europe
Austria makes vaccination compulsory
Austria will introduce a general compulsory vaccination on February 1st, 2022. In addition, the whole of Austria will go into lockdown from Monday to reverse the sharp increase in the number of corona infections. Austria is the first Western democracy to resort to mandatory vaccination, writes Politico. Only supermarkets, drugstores,…
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Southern Europe
Less money given to churches during pandemic
Due to corona, the income of the Spanish Catholic Church through collections has decreased by a third. This is reported by the Spanish Catholic News Agency. Bishop Joseba Segura, Bishop of Bilbao and head of the Secretariat for the Sustaining of the Spanish Church, assured that there had been an…
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