German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Protestants and Catholics to emphasise what they have in common as Germany prepares to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017. “Especially in a very secular world, we should always stress what is common in the Christian religion,” said Merkel, who is the daughter of a Read more
Catholics in Germany are wary about planned celebrations in 2017 to mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s launching of the Reformation. A report from Reuters said German Protestants have invited Catholics to join in the celebrations, but it is still hard for some Catholics to accept the invite. “It’s not impossible in principle, but Read more
The U.S. Catholic bishops’ point man on sexual abuse, Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Joliet, paints a gloomy picture of the Church’s handling of sexual abuse, saying the church’s credibility is “shredded”. Conlon compared the situation to the Reformation, when “the episcopacy, the regular clergy, even the papacy were discredited.” Bishop Conlon last month told a conference of Read more
Church attendance my be declining, but real individual religion has undergone a huge revival in the past 30 years. Look for the religion section of almost any bookshop in Britain, and you’ll find it’s been subsumed under “Mind, body and spirit”. The reason is simple: what we call religion has changed – dramatically – in Read more