This year, Jews and Muslims have been invited to join in the German Karneval celebrations in Germany. Traditionally, in the days leading up to Ash Wednesday, Catholic cities in Germany hold huge street celebrations. Parades and parties provide revellers with a last binge of drinking, dancing and singing before the 40 days of fasting in Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Germany’
German Cardinal urges verbal disarmament after far-right election success
Thursday, September 28th, 2017
A far-right party’s success in Germany’s national elections on Sunday will need to be handled with dignity, the German bishops conference says. Cardinal Reinhard Marx is urging “verbal disarmament” and says the German parliament (Bundestag) has a special dignity which must take priority in political confrontations. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the first far-right Read more
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German churches hide refugees from police
Thursday, September 7th, 2017Numerous German churches are defending refugees. They are even housing rejected asylum seekers in churches so German police cannot deport them, while submitting legal appeals for their cases. Read more
Women forging ahead in pastoral work
Monday, August 7th, 2017The German Bishops Conference says 40% of its directors of pastoral work are women. The women are responsible for multiple fields of pastoral work, including restructuring pastoral zones, accompanying couples and families, emergency aid, migrant pastoral care and interreligious dialogue. Read more
Thousands leave church in Germany
Thursday, July 27th, 2017About 160,000 Catholics left the Church in Germany last year. This is a decrease in the 180,000 who left in 2015. The Church is one of the organs of state in Germany and members must pay a church tax. Read more
Georg Ratzinger contributes to culture of silence
Thursday, July 20th, 2017
Monsignor Georg Ratzinger contributed to a “culture of silence” at a prestigious German boys boarding school. More than 500 boys suffered abuse at the hands of dozens of teachers and priests at the school that trains the Regensburg Cathedral boys’ choir reports, Ulrich Weber. Weber, an independent investigator, was appointed by the Regensburg diocese to look into Read more
German President, social media and anti-Semitism
Thursday, June 29th, 2017
German head of state President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has spoken out about the way social media is being used to promote anti-Semitism through “hate tirades” in Germany and across Europe. Speaking after a ceremony celebrating the centenary of a synagogue in the southern German town of Augsburg that survived the Nazi regime, Steinmeier said: “The social Read more
Cardinal says “no” parish clustering
Thursday, March 30th, 2017
Priest crisis solved – lay people will be leading parishes in Germany, says Cardinal Reinhard Marx. The German cardinal’s motivation is his firm rejection of clustering parishes to resolve Germany’s shortage of priests. The shortfall of priests in Marx’s archdiocese of Munich and Freising is clear. He says of its 1.7 million Catholics, there was Read more
Remarried divorcees, Communion – German bishops and Cardinal conflict
Friday, February 10th, 2017
Remarried divorcees’ right to Communion is sparking a conflict in Germany. On one side, several members of the Council of German Bishops endorse Communion for the divorced and remarried. On the other, German Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief, says Communion for divorced and remarried people is impossible. “For us marriage is the expression Read more
German football squad – friendly advice from Pope
Friday, November 18th, 2016The German football squad has had some friendly advice from Pope Francis. “Remember your are role models for so many young people and children, and the great responsibility this entails…” he said. Read more