Abstract
Excerpt: "An Open Letter initiated by the German theologian Ellen Ueberschär and me to the Synod, the Council of the Protestant Church of Germany (EKD) and the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) was published the week before Pentecost.1 A broad spectrum of members of the Protestant Church in Germany signed the letter; so far around 90. These include many GDR Protestants who were formerly in the Christian opposition in the GDR and belonged to the civil rights movement of the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. From this circle, Marianne Birthler and Markus Meckel are perhaps the best-known Protestants. Marianne Birthler was the head of the Stasi authority after Joachim Gauck, and Markus Meckel founded the Social Democratic Party in the GDR and was the last foreign minister of the GDR in 1990. However, politicians from various parties, a former prime minister, pastors, superintendents, and other church employees from all over Germany, military chaplains and many committed Protestants at various levels have also signed. So far, the letter has been clicked on NOEK.info more than 2,800 times. All those who signed the letter--and many more --are very concerned about what will happen in Karlsruhe, Germany, in August/September 2022 when the General Assembly of the WCC takes place there."
Recommended Citation
Kunter, Katharina
(2022)
"Historical Burdens and the “German Sonderweg”: Why it is so Difficult for The Protestant Church in Germany to Stand on the Side of the Victims in the Ukraine War,"
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 42
:
Iss.
5
, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2148.2363
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol42/iss5/4