News – Page 10 – Oikosnet Europe

22nd April 201625th April 2016

News from the Board meeting in Prague 21st to the 22nd march 2016

The Oikosnet board met for two days in the wonderful city of Prague where our next Annual Conference will be held on invitation of the Ecumenical Academy of Prague. A huge amount of work was waiting for the six members of the board Jaap van der Sar, (President), Marielisa von Thadden (Vice-president), Nicola Murray, (Treasurer), Kostas Zorbas, Kirsten Beuth, Sören Lenz. They were assisted by Rüdiger Noll, our executive secretary and Hermann Düringer as meeting secretary. Jiri Silny from the Ecumenical Academy and Alf Linderman from the Sigtuna Foundation, where our secretariat is based, assisted the meetings temporarily.

The Annual Conference in Prague, 7-11 Sept 2016 “Transition or Mission Impossible”
Jiri Silny, director of the Ecumenical Academy Prague, presented the plans for the study day and the excursions which are planned for the AC of Oikosnet. After the fall of the Berlin wall and the disappearing of a communist state system the transition in the former Eastern bloc states has not only produced winners. How did the transformation to a neoliberal economical system happen and what is the outcome? What are the social constraints and what about social cohesion? Are there political consequences?

These are the questions we want to discuss during the study day which is always a central element of the annual meeting of OE. Furthermore, excursions are intended like meeting with a Roma social work project, a visit in the glass industry and an alternative city tour.

Gender and Justice Network. Preconference in Prague, 5-7 September 2017
“Escape, Migration, Gender”

Like it is already a tradition the Gender and Justice Network will hold its preconference focalizing on Gender and Justice in the field of migration and refugees. Renowned experts like Vigdis Vevstad from Norway or Ulrich Körtner (to be confirmed) will contribute as keynote speakers on the political and ethical problematic of the refugee crisis. The meeting will pay a special attention on discussion and exchange with a final Pool of ideas to share experiences and ideas for projects with refugees.

The legal entity of OE – From Germany to Sweden
The upcoming AC in Prague has to discuss and to prepare the transition of OE from a German legal entity to Swedish legal entity at full length which includes as well a modification of our constitution in adapted to Swedish law. According to the decision in Corrymeela the board has prepared the following steps:

Founding of a new association OE under Swedish Law, with a secretariat at the Sigtuna Foundation
Dissolution of the association under German law

The whole process of founding the new OE and the dissolution of the German association will be explained in detail and the modified constitution according to Swedish law send out to the members before the meeting in Prague. The board invite all members to send us their commentaries and suggestions before the meeting in Prague which will help us to have a constructive debate at the AC.

Our new treasurer Nicola Murray from Corrymeela
The the responsibility for financial operations were handed over to the secretariat in Sigtuna and to our new treasurer, Nicola Murray. The Board thanked Jaap for the accurate and careful job he did the last years.

By Sören Lenz, Liebfrauenberg

22nd April 201625th April 2016

Congratulations Kristin Gunleiksrud Raaum

On behalf of Oikosnet Europe we give our warmest congratulations to Kristin Gunleiksrud Raaum from the Norwegian Church Academy who recently was elected as Chair of the Church of Norway. Many of us have met Kristin at the annual conferences of Oikosnet Europe and she was also elected as member of the board in 2015.

In December Kristin visited the Evangelische Akademie Bad Boll at the annual conference for Lesbian Women in Church and Society. Her speech was very well received by around 100 participants coming from all over Germany. We wish Kristin the very best in her new challenge as Chair of the Church of Norway and we are grateful that we have her permission to publish her speach from the conference.

Photo: Marielisa von Thadden, Evangelische Akademie Bad Boll and Kristin Gunleiksrud Raaum the Norwegian Church Academy.

Key note speach by Kristin Gunleiksrud Raaum at the annual conference for Lesbian Women in Church and Society

“I am delighted to be here, and to be invited to tell you about an amazing process I have been part of the last year and a half. We are now changing the church of Norway, within a little bit more than a year it will be possible for same sex couples to be married in the church. But this is not really about an organization. It is not really about the church. It is really about human dignity and equality, and the members of the church being given an opportunity to speak their mind.
First a few facts:
In Norway, we used to have a State church until 2012. 75 % of the population are members, but the numbers are slowly decreasing. Our Constitution now uses the term «Peoples church» about the Church of Norway. We now discuss how we can prevent a similar increase in child christening and church wedding, as is the picture in many other north European countries.
In 1992 there was an act of Domestic partnership. The majority of church leaders were against this.
January 1st 2009 there was a new legislation of marriage in Norway. The Marriage Act states that two people of the same or different sex can get married. But not in the church. There is a section in the Marriage Act that prevents a priest from performing a marriage between two of same sex.
As in most churches, LGBTs have been the topic of debate also in the Church of Norway. Could they be employed as priest? Could they “be allowed” to marry? I have to say that I really do not recognize that we as a church should be discussing this for years and years. I understand that we have to, but I long for the day when this is no longer a topic: it is and should be self-evident that we are equal, also when it comes to the ability to love.
There are some who claim that homosexuality is a sin. And they are letting their voices be heard. In newspapers and social media they are active. They are of course few in numbers, but they organize well, and have been able to win disproportionally many seats in the church parliament, the synod.
We on the more liberal part of the church, traditionally lack the ability to organize or unify. We find it much more interesting to discuss or even fight one another. So, when it comes to seizing power in the church, we have been an east match!
In the Church of Norway we have been constantly discussing so called “gay issues” since 1995. And I mean constantly. It has been THE issue in 20 years, dividing the church, and creating a demarcation line in many other questions. But more importantly: in these 20 years those of us with LGBT-identity have been exposed to discrimination, being refused jobs in the church, and having their lives and love discussed in the open over and over again. The great paradox of it all – and this is impossible to understand – is that the church, THE CHURCH, has contributed to making people lie about who they are, hide who they are. The church, in this world to proclaim the truth about God and love. The church has made people bow their head in shame and hide their life. If the word sin ever was a
relevant one, it is in this sense: it is a sin to contribute to people hiding their face before God. It is a sin to make people feel ashamed of whom they love. And one day the church will apologize for it.
Well, in 2010 the Bishops Council appointed a group with the task to – once again – study the theological basis of love and marriage. It took three years, and ended in a divided bishops council. 8 were pro same sex marriage, and four were against. Then it was up to the synod to decide.
We were a small group. Four women. All member of the synod. One lesbian. Three straight allies. Three of them priests. And me, the deputy leader of the Church of Norway. We did our math. We knew where all 116 delegates stood in the issue. We wrote articles. We spend hundreds of hours on the phone. Investigating, mapping, persuading, arguing, fighting.
When the synod in 2014 approached, we knew that it would be a close race. And it certainly was. The debate was tough. I will try to forget some of the expressions used of LGBT’s. The night before the votes were to be given, we discovered – four o’clock in the morning – that we would not make it. We were a few votes short. But the upside of it was that the conservative side did not have a majority either. So it was not over.
We drove home. Four of us in my car. Crying. Swearing. Sleeping. My husband welcomed us with dinner and wine. We went on swearing and crying. The next morning I woke up to hundreds of messages in social media: «This is it! I’m leaving the church of Norway.»
I spend most of the day answering, and by the night it was obvious: We had to do something about it. Two months later a new organization was founded: Open People’s church. We were only a handful. But we knew that we had a year. September 14th 2015 was oar goal: a church referendum. The new synod, consisting of 11 diocesan council (116 members in all) should be elected. Only 10-13 % of the church members voted. We organized every diocese, and, for the first time in history
established lists, similar to party lists. We achieved lists in 9 out 11 dioceses.
We were in it together. Queer and straight. LGBT and heterosexuals. Not always easy. I find it sometimes hard, being straight and credible at the same time. It was sometimes hard, knowing that everything I said could be mistrusted because I happened to be straight. But through this frustration, I think I learned a lesson. I learned a little of what it is like to be mistrusted because you are who you are, ore more precise: because of whom you love. What it is like having to fight for a job or the right to love in dignity. I had never before have had to fight for respect because of who I was. I have met prejudice and harsh remarks because of my high heels and blond hair and passion for champagne. But that is nothing in comparisn, and I know it. I now had to try to understand when my heteronormativity made me blind or nearsighted. It was a valuable lesson.
We campaigned on. We had no money. Everything had to be done on a voluntarily basis. It was really an impossible project. To establish a nationwide organization within a year, and then have a campaign all over the country to win the referendum. We had groups on Facebook. Open groups, secret groups. There is I a lot of bad things to be said on Facebook, But without it we would never have won. We had secret strategy discussions, providing those new in our organization with support and arguments for local debates. We grew. Some of us worked in publicity, they made a visual program. Part of it you can see behind me. One contacted famous artists who supported us. They made a record: working for an open church. And a wonderful concert. Many of the best artists in Norway together on stage. It was magic. Then we went begging for money from a few of the richest people in Norway. One of them said yes. And gave us 200 000 euros. This is a very private man, who
seldom gives interviews. But now he gave three interviews on the news, telling the whole of Norway that he supported us because he was a Christian (no one knew in advance) and he felt obliged from the gospel of Jesus. Two month later he came out of the closet as bisexual, and what was really interesting is that this strengthened his credibility. Being LGBT made him popular. The fact that he supported us made him popular.
We toured the country with the campaign.
What I want to accentuate from the campaign is this: Travelling around and meeting people, it became clearer and clearer how important this was to many ordinary church member, LGBT or straight. There was a lot of people in many ways saying: FINALLY! The fact that you decided to run an Open Peoples Church list, made me breathe more freely.
This was markedly and most clear in the part of the country that traditionally was dominated by the conservative forces in the church, in the south and the west of Norway. In these regions people said: “Now I can state my mind more freely. I do not need to hide who I am anymore!” This was of course a strong message from LGBTs, but also from straight people. It was as we all grasped that a church that does not recognize some people, does not recognize anyone. A church that condemns love and marriage for some, does not does not really recognize love. A lot of people expressed what I would call lack of oxygen in their relation to the church.
What was on stake was partly the credibility of the church, but most importantly: It had to do with the image of God and the dignity of man. The shared dignity. If the church cannot be the place that this is self-evident, where can it? one said to me.
Because we have changed as people, as a society, as Christians. We want a church that enhances and promotes that we should support our children in finding their identity, living openly and honestly, rather than sorting them in rigid and limiting Categories. We do not want a church that make life difficult for people.
I think our campaign proved that there among the people is a stubborn faith that has survived the shallow preaching of human love.
And how did it all go? We won. Almost 65 percent of the votes. We won in ALL the dioceses. Even the most conservative. We now have the majority in the synod. And by January 2017 it will be possible for same sex couples to marry in the church. We have started developing a new liturgy. I am so proud to have been given the privilege to be a part of this. To change the church. To change the conditions for life and love. And faith.
There is opposition of course. The battle is not over, of course it is not. We are still fighting and arguing. But the majority has changed. The church has changed. Because the church members said: we cannot have a church who divides people, who discriminates people. We want a church that promotes the gospel, and therefore human dignity. We won because the members of the church of Norway gave a strong message of equality and dignity for all.”
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22nd April 201625th April 2016

Visions for the countryside – Young Europeans in the periphery

14 -16^th November 2016 in Altenkirchen/Germany

Being young in the countryside is different from being young in the city: There is more space and more freedom yet at the same times fewer opportunities and fewer people of the same age. Due to demographic change and the growing attractiveness of big cities, the number of young people is likely to further decrease in the decades to come. These problems can be seen in different regions across Europe. Shouldn´t there be common European ideas and solutions? Therefore the Protestant Academies in Neudietendorf (Thuringia) and Altenkirchen (Rheinland) invite adolescents and youth workers from all over Europe to talk about how life in the periphery can be changed for the better: young, creative and European! We would like to invite partners from the OIKOSNET Europe who are interested to cooperate in this project to get into contact. The conference will be held from Nov. 14-16, 2016. The working language is English.

Place of event:
Evangelische Landjugendakademie in Altenkirchen in cooperation with Evangelische Akademie Thüringen Dieperzbergweg 13-17 D-57610 Altenkirchen

Contact persons:
Annika Schreiter
Evangelische Akademie Thüringen
Studienleiterin Referat gesellschaftspolitische Jugendbildung
Zinzendorfplatz 3
99192 Neudietendorf
Tel.: 036202 / 984-12
email: schreiter@ev-akademie-thueringen.de

Philipp Schlicht
Referent für jugendpolitische Bildung Evangelische Landjugendakademie Altenkirchen
Dieperzbergweg 13-17
D-57610 Altenkirchen
Tel.: +49 2681 9516 27
email schlicht@lja.de

12th February 201628th April 2016

Fighting Empires With Umbrellas

The Sigtuna Foundation, 20-22 May 2016
We would like to remind you all about our previous invitation to this conference at the Sigtuna Foundation in May 2016.

Together with the Norwegian Areopagos Foundation and the Tao Fong Shan Foundation in Hong Kong, the Sigtuna Foundation is organizing this conference in Sigtuna in May this year. The idea is to use the so-called Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, a social protest movement in the Fall of 2014 that was widely covered in European media, as a lens to understand the Chinese situation and to explore further several more general questions.

Among other speakers, we are proud to present Agnes Chow, a well-known young student leader and activist in the democracy movement in Hong Kong, as one of our key note speakers.

We still have some spaces available for participants from member organizations in Oikosnet Europe for which the Sigtuna Foundation will cover all costs for food and accommodation here in Sigtuna. Participants will only have to cover their own travel expenses.

The program will be as follows (see also the separate special presentation of Saturday’s program).

If you are interested to take part in the confernce please get in touch with Lovisa.Degreefbeselin@sigtunastiftelsen.se

Friday afternoon, May 20,
14:00-14:15 Welcome and introduction (Alf Linderman, Tong Wing-sze and Raag Rolfsen)

14:15-14:45 Key note lecture: The late modern situation – the fall of ideologies and the challenges of ideal and faith based organizations/foundations (Raag Rolfsen)

14:45-15:00 Turning chairs to your neighbours’ groups, discussing these challenges

15.00-15.15 Coffee and refreshments

15:15-15:30 Tao Fong Shan (– title to be decided) (Tong Wing-sze)

15:30-15:45 Areopagos – Do What You Hear! Building Commitment in the 21st Century (Stian Aarebrot)

15.45-16.00 The Sigtuna Foundation – the founding idea and the challenges we face in the contemporary, late modern society (Alf Linderman)

16.00-16.15 Oikosnet Europe – an old network facing new times and new challenges (Rüdiger Noll or Jaap van der Sar)

16.15-17.00 Discussion in smaller groups

17.00-17.30 Concluding panel

18.30- Dinner and social evening

Saturday May 21 – Public Program Day
09.30-10.00 Coffee and refreshments

10.00-10.05 Welcome (Alf Linderman)

10.05-10.15 Introduction of the Theme (Raag Rolfsen & Tong Wing-sze)

10.15-11.00 Keynote Speech: Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement and Beyond (Agnes Chow)

11.00-11.45 Questions and discussion

12:00-14.00 Lunch

14.00-15.30 Panel 1: Global China Connection: A Perspective from Hong Kong–China conflict (Agnes Chow, Isaac Wong, Fredrik Fällman)

15.30-16.00 Coffee and refreshments

16.00-17.30 Panel 2: Occupy Everywhere: Social Media and Public Space (Agnes Chow, Isaac Wong, Alf Linderman)

18.00-19.45 Dinner

20.00-21.30 Concert: Not talkin’ bout a Protest: Music and Spirituality (Mattias Thurfjell, Isaac Wong)

Sunday May 22
11.00 Service in Mariakyrkan – sermon by Anette Ejsing

13.00 Lunch and then departure of international guests

3rd December 2015

European Commission provides €5.4 million in funding for projects to prevent and combat all forms of intolerance

Following the 2015 Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights dedicated to “Tolerance and respect: preventing and combating antisemitic and anti-Muslim hatred in Europe“, the European Commission has published a call for proposals under the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme. The Commission will award €5.4 million to projects on: training and capacity building to strengthen criminal responses to hate crime and hate speech; exchanging best practices to prevent and combat all forms of intolerance; empowering and supporting victims of hate crime and hate speech. As a result of last year’s call for proposals, financial support has been awarded to a number of projects including “Research, Report, Remove” and “eMORE”, which both focus on monitoring, mapping and the removal of online hate speech. More detail on the call for proposals can be found here. The deadline for submitting proposals is 18 February 2016.

3rd December 2015

Europe – From Crisis to Turmoil

Europe – From Crisis to Turmoil

When the Annual Conference of Oikosnet Europe met in Villigst in September 2014 and had “Europe” as its main theme, the focus was on giving “new impulses for the European integration process” as Prof. Jörn Rüsen put it during the meeting. Already at that time Europe was perceived as being in a crisis.

Much has happened in the meantime, much has happened in recent weeks and months. The number of refugees seeking asylum in the Schengen territory has reached unprecedented high figures – and each single refugee has his or her individual story and reasons to leave his or her homeland. Public authorities in many European countries feel totally overwhelmed in offering a welcoming environment and in offering social and health services. Many civil society initiatives, including church-related initiatives, step in and thereby setting countersigns to those who are engaging in hostile acts against foreigners.

With the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November terrorism in Europe has reached a new dimension. In as much as comparisons never do justice to the victims, some newspapers have titled: “Europe is facing its 9/11”. Consequently, the debate “security” versus “freedom rights” is reaching a new climax. First and foremost, however, preventing and combatting intolerance and fundamentalism as well as promoting mutual respect and conviviality in increasingly pluralist societies are demanded. Again an area where the engagement of civil society and the role citizens’ education is indispensable.

Both of these recent developments encouraged the Oikosnet Board to issue a public statement – the first since a very long time. The statement recognizes the commitment and active engagement of many Oikosnet members on these issues and encourages them to remain actively engaged.

Statement Oikosnet

The refugee crisis and the terrorist attacks should not be mixed up – as sometimes done by populist speakers and movements. As investigations on the terrorist atrocities in Europe have shown thus far, the attackers were either European citizens or entered the continent on other paths. Refugees are not responsible for terroristic attacks in Europe. They are the victims of terroristic attacks and failing governmental policies in their home countries. They need protection. The right to asylum is not to be put in question.

And Europe? Both of the recent developments show very clearly that a common European response is needed. No single European country is able to handle the amount of refugees nor the threat through terroristic acts on its own. The European Union is an important player in this regard, but a common response must also include countries like Russia and Turkey and it must be informed by the neighbours in the Middle East.

For many Christians as well as in the logic of military conflicts, common European airstrikes in Iraq and Syria will not be the solution. UN programmes and countries in and around conflict zones, where still most of the refugees live in camps and often under inhuman conditions, must be resourced and equipped in order to be able to help people effectively. Channels which feed terrorists with finances, resources and weapons must be cut. A more effective EU Neighbourhood Policy with its eastern European and Mediterranean neighbours, at present under revision, is needed, including a strengthened civil society dialogue. In this, Oikosnet members, being committed to the Christian faith as well as to human rights and human dignity, have played and will play their role.

The 2015 Annual Conference of Oikosnet Europe addressing the issue of “Fear” and “Remembrance” exemplified by the example of (Northern) Ireland and the work of the Corrymeela Community as well as by the training which Oikosnet offers under the name of “Dialogue for Peaceful Change” how important it is to have intermediate an unbiased institutions. These can help for people to share their “stories” with each other in a local, national or international context. “Only if narratives get changed, there is a real possibility for making a difference,” was one of the sentences participants took home from Corrymeela.

Rüdiger Noll, Executive Secretary of Oikosnet Europe

3rd December 2015

“Transition Accomplished or Mission Impossible – Economic Developments and Civil Society. The example of the Czech Republic”

Annual Conference 2016
This is the working title for the Oikosnet Europe Annual Conference 2016, which is scheduled to take place in Prague, 7 to 11 September 2016 upon invitation of the Ecumenical Academy Prague and its Director Jiri Silny. As usual, the Annual Conference will be preceded by a meeting of the Gender and Justice Network and the Oikosnet Board.

If you are interested in attending, please note these dates in your agenda. The official invitation will be issued to Oikosnet members by letter as well as through this newsletter in the first half of 2016. Please also consult the Oikosnet website.

Under the title of the conference, the Ecumenical Academy in Prague will provide introductions, discussions, encounters and an excursion in order to shed light on how economic developments hit people in the Czech Republic after the revolutionary changes in 1989 and on how the Czech Civil Society, including the Ecumenical Academy, addressed the subsequent challenges. To which extend did the visions of those who were actively engaged in the Velvet Revolution become true? Did the transition process actually ever end? What are the challenges of today? Does the Czech experience resonate with the experiences in other European countries? What conclusion can be drawn for the European Ecumenical Laity and Academy Movement?

Besides addressing the main theme of the Annual Conference, the meeting will also have to review the work of OE during the past year as well as to take decisions on common projects/activities. The Prague meeting will finally decide on the future legal framework for Oikosnet Europe

3rd December 2015

News from the Board

The newly elected Board met in Friedberg, Germany at the beginning of November. Several issues were discussed – and quite some deserve special attention, also in this newsletter. You see this in the different contributions.

In addition to these issues, it is good to report about some other elements.

Oikosnet International. This subject is always on the table, at least since we are connected with colleagues outside Europe. Especially the situation in the Middle East is visible almost from day to day. It turns out now, that our colleague from Aleppo isn’t able to travel anymore to his parish. too dangerous on the road, which ‘normally’ required about 4 hours but now needs at least 12 hours drive, about 50 road blocks included. And you never know for sure who has placed that road block and by consequence whether you survive this one. So it is not difficult to understand why so many people leave the area, leave the country, leave the region – and several of them head to Europe. We discussed this for quite some time, also having in mind what our members throughout Europe are doing for and with refugees.

Regarding Oikosnet International we are in charge to get a meeting organised by next year. We will make attempts for that, probably connected to our Annual Conference, probably ‘just’ through Skype.

Our new configuration. We discussed several elements regarding the new organisation structure in Sweden. In our next Board meeting we will discuss a draft constitution for our new Swedish entity. After that meeting we will send out the draft to our members, so every member can prepare for the discussion and decision, to be taken in Prague.
The plan for the Board in the upcoming years. Formally we haven’t set a work plan, but we discussed about our priorities for the next years. As a Board we have the mandate to act in support for our members. Therefore we consider it important to start with 3 to 5 new projects in the upcoming years. And we would like to see both new members coming in as well as new and present members being active within one or more projects. For that we need a productive way of communication with and between members, a transparent way of working and communication, both within the Board and in the Association as a whole.

Many things to do in a challenging time. We take up the challenges.

Jaap van der Sar, president Oikosnet Europe

3rd December 2015

Workshops in Iconography at the Orthodox Academy of Crete

Since 1995, the Iconography Workshop of the Orthodox Academy of Crete (OAC) cultivates the Byzantine art through the painting of icons and also by informing groups visiting the OAC on iconography. The Workshop provide iconography seminars to groups and to individuals from Greece and abroad. These seminars aim at offering a general orientation and acquaintance with Byzantine art. The main emphasis lies on the portable icon painting. The participants will learn and practice the techniques that are being applied during the different phases of its creation.

Parallel to the practical section of their training, the participants get information on the theoretical framework of Byzantine iconography. The OAC scientific advisors deliver lectures on the theology of icons and the history of iconography. During the courses, the participants will visit places directly connected to the hagiographic tradition of the Orthodox Church, as it was experienced in the island of Crete. They have the opportunity to admire and study masterpieces of Byzantine and post-Byzantine art; many of them are to be found in their ‘natural place‘, in the churches and the monasteries. The participants stay at the OAC and taste the traditional Cretan cuisine. At the end of the courses, the participants receive a certificate from the OAC confirming their participation.

Dates of the iconography seminars

For beginners
17 – 28 March 2016
Registration Deadline until 30^th of January 2016

For advanced
10 – 21 April 2016 Registration Deadline until 28^th of February 2016
17- 27 October 2016 Registration Deadline until 30^th of June 2016

For further information and registration please get in contact with Konstantina Stefanaki, Iconographer of the OAC Orthodox Academy of Crete 73006 Kolympari – Chania, Crete,
Tel.: +30-28240-22245, Fax: +30-28240-22060

E-mail: ksoac@otenet.gr , Website: www.oac.gr

3rd December 2015

Luther and His Hostility Against Jews – Blind on Both Eyes

On 9 November, Friedrich Kramer, Director of the Protestant Academy in Wittenberg/Germany, climbed the stairs of a ladder and covered the eyes of the Luther statue in Wittenberg, the oldest of its kind in Germany. According to this symbolic act, Luther was not only blind on one eye when it came to his hostility against Jews.

Friedrich Kramer is member of the Advisory Council for the Christian-Jewish Dialogue in the Evangelical Church in Central Germany as well as of the Steering Committee of the network project of the German Protestant Academies on the “Societal Relevance of the Reformation Today”. “This symbolic act is a call to dissociate oneself from Luther’s hatred against the Jews. The covered eyes are to symbolize that on this issue the Reformer was blind, although he was very thoughtful on other issues and initiated new approaches”, Friedrich Kramer said. “We need to very clear as to what we are going to celebrate in 2017. Certainly it cannot be Luther’s antisemitism. On the other hand, Luther was a courageous man, who remained steadfast against the Pope and the Emperor. This makes him to appear as human.”

Foto: Alexander Bauman

14 -16th November 2016 in Altenkirchen/Germany

Dates of the iconography seminars

14 -16^th November 2016 in Altenkirchen/Germany