Reformation anniversary
Margot Käßmann is now the ambassador whose task it is to promote the heritage of the Reformation, on behalf of the Evangelical Church in Germany. During her inauguration in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, she appealed that Christians stand up against religious fundamentalism. "Think for yourself!" is her first request in her new office.
IAs ambassador of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany for the Reformation Anniversary, Margot Käßmann wants to make use of her position in order to initiate discussions about how, and with which image of Luther, the Evangelical Church wants to celebrate the anniversary in five years' time.
On April 27th, the theologian Margot Käßmann will be introduced into her office as Luther Ambassador. With lectures, church services and other activities, the former Chairwoman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) will promote the Reformation anniversary in 2017.
Reformation sites in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt are the destinations of a journey of diplomats from five European countries and Australia, which began on Thursday. Foreign office State Minister Cornelia Pieper (FDP, Free Democrats) said at the beginning of the excursion that it will introduce the Reformation anniversary 2017 to a larger general public abroad.
Die Präses der Synode der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (EKD), Katrin Göring-Eckardt, hat dafür geworben, das Reformationsjubiläum 2017 zu einem unvergesslichen Jahr zu machen. "Wir wollen groß feiern", sagte die Präses in ihrem Bericht vor dem Kirchenparlament am Sonntag in Magdeburg.
Singing soon became a characteristic trait of the people of Lutheran faith – and one of the sharpest weapons of the Reformation. The first German hymns of the Reformers were belted out as protest songs.
The Bundestag supports the continuation of subsidy for the Luther Decade and the Reformation anniversary in 2017. The federal government is requested to consider the important sites of the Reformation in the funding for historical buildings and monuments.
Praeses Nikolaus Schneider, President of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, calls for an "honest perspective on history" in order to be able to celebrate together freely.
For the first time, a pope has visited one of the domains of the Reformer Martin Luther. In the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt, young Martin Luther had dedicated himself fully to the service of his church and was ordained as a priest. Stephan Cezanne, author of the Evangelical Press Service (epd), takes stock and ventures to find an outlook on the future after the visit of the Pope.
In one month's time, Ilse Junkermann, Bishop of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany, will welcome the Pope in Erfurt. In an interview, she talks about her expectations.
