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Western Europe
Dutch apology for involvement in slavery
The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has expressed an excuse for the Low Countries’ contribution to the history of slavery. In a long-awaited speech on Monday afternoon, Mr Rutte said the involvement of the Dutch state was “painful and shameful”. For centuries, the Dutch state has profited from this, he…
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Central Europe
Church attendance dwindling in Germany
Many German church attendees are leaving or have already considered it. According to a Bertelsmann Foundation study, church attendance is declining at a faster rate than ever before, particularly in younger generations. The Christliches Medienmagazin PRO article also reported that approximately 41 percent of teens and young adults (ages 16-24)…
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Western Europe
Dutch authorities investigate porn industry
The Dutch Justice Minister, Dilan Yesilgöz, is concerned about potential abuse in the porn industry. Therefore, she has ordered a closer investigation. Yesilgöz said so during a debate requested by the Reformed SGP party and the Christian Democratic Party in the Netherlands. Even though the authorities do not see concrete…
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Northern Europe
Norwegian church receives request for removal crosses
A local branch of the Human-Ethical Association (HEF) finds the crosses on chapels and cemeteries threatening. Therefore, it asked the Church of Norway to remove them. According to the HEF in the letter it sent to the church council, the use of symbols, such as crosses, can be experienced as…
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Central Europe
German judge forces Twitter to be firm on hate and slander
Twitter must take a firmer stance on slander and hate speech. That follows from a decision on Wednesday of the German district court in the city of Frankfurt. The judges ordered the service to actively remove illegal content that is displayed and also comments with “similar content” in which hate…
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Central Europe
Language expert: German Catholics speak differently than Protestants
Catholics speak differently than Protestants. According to Anna-Maria Balbach, who studied them, language distinguishes members of the two denominations, starting with the image of God. For almost ten years, Balbach studied the language of Catholics and Protestants. To do so, she listened to around 3000 radio sermons. The German Roman…
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Central Europe
Ban on worship services during pandemic was illegal, says German court
The national ban on physical worship services in March 2021, due to the Covid pandemic, violated the freedom of religion illegitimately. That is the opinion of the German court in Minden, Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad writes, based on an article from the Protestant press agency Idea. The municipal council of…
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Western Europe
Catawiki auction limits the sale of relics
It is no longer possible to buy a hair of Saint Paul or a piece of bone from Saint Lucia on the online auction Catawiki. The website has banned the sale of relics containing fragments of saints' bodies. It did so after a request from the Dutch bishop Jan Hendriks…
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Southern Europe
Debate on investigation John Paul II
There has been criticism of Dutch journalist Ekke Overbeek’s investigation into the actions of the later Pope John Paul II concerning the abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy in his homeland of Poland. Overbeek rebounds. “The Polish secret service did not have pure motives but often reported accurately.” Earlier…
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Eastern Europe
Romanian Parliament adopts resolution that calls for equal opportunities
In a chaotic session, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in Romania adopted a resolution on Monday calling for the consolidation of equal opportunities. By adopting the declaration, the Parliament conveys that it encourages the full and equal participation of Romanian women in the development, financing and implementation of…
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