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Northern Europe
Church of Sweden wants to open their own funeral parlours
The next church meeting of the Church of Sweden will decide whether the Church of Sweden can open their own funeral parlours. The plan is disputed. Opening up funeral parlours is the only way to keep alive the ecclesiastical funeral traditions, pastor Henrik Rydberg says to Dagen. “We can do…
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Belgium forbids conversion therapy
Belgium outlaws therapies that aim to change or supress someone's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Anyone who violates this ban on the so-called conversion therapies risks a jail term of between a month and a year or a fine of up to 300 euros. Proposing or encouraging conversion…
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Western Europe
Dutchman covers dating ads that encourage partners to cheat
The Dutch dating website SecondLove encourages partners who want to cheat on their spouses. It advertises on bus stations to promote this. The Dutch Bilal de Zwart thinks this is morally rejectable. Therefore, he covered the advertisements with tape and shared his action on LinkedIn. “I have blocked your promotion…
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Western Europe
Committee French parliament accepts abortion in constitution
A legal commission of the French Parliament has accepted the proposal to be part of the Constitution on Wednesday. Next week, the Parliament itself will speak about it. “No one can infringe the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy and contraception”, is the accepted text. From the commission, this text…
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Southern Europe
Malta liberalises abortion a little
Malta will liberalise its legislation on terminating a pregnancy a little. Until now, Malta is the only EU country that used to have a total abortion ban. The current Maltese abortion law left no space for exceptions. Terminating a pregnancy is illegal in all circumstances, including situations where the mother's…
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Western Europe
Growing Dutch debate about banning parties
Dutch political parties debate a proposal to forbid a political party: the right-wing Forum for Democracy. Government coalition partner D66 is pushing to make this possible. D66 MP Jan Paternotte proposes amending the Civil Code. With that, it is possible to ban criminal motorbike gangs and comparable groups. Political parties…
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Central Europe
Swiss Reformed churches will bless gay marriage
The French-speaking Protestant Church in Switzerland opened itself to the so-called gender-neutral marriage. Same-sex couples can get a blessing by the Reformed Church of the Canton Vaud. The church's synod voted about this last week, and several Evangelical media report about this. According to Evangelical Focus, the regional church had…
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European Union
Sperm production is declining faster than thought
Men’s sperm production worldwide is declining faster than scientists expected. Researchers fear men are approaching a turning point. That would mean the fertility of the majority of men is at risk. The Dutch news platform Nu.nl was reporting this on Tuesday on the basis of scientific publications. A 2017 study…
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Central Europe
Polish artist sentenced for blasphemous painting
A Polish artist has been fined 2,000 zloty (425 euros) for creating a painting as a protest against the Polish abortion law. Krzysztof Soroka (35) has been sentenced by the Court of Appeal, as he was found guilty of hurting “religious feelings.”. The judge in Szczecin, furthermore, ruled that he…
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Central Europe
EKD gives the stage to climate activists
The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) seeks a dialogue with climate activists. That causes a lot of protests from politicians and clergy. People put their physical integrity, their professional and family future and their everyday life at risk “because all other forms of protest have been exhausted,” said the representative…
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