Church - Christmas sermons address wars
The wars in Ukraine and Israel are the subject of many Christmas sermons this year. The conflicts with their thousands of victims are "perceived with increasing horror and horror", said Ruhr Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck on Sunday evening in Essen Cathedral after a prepared speech text. "It is not only one of the paradoxes, but also one of the abysmal nature of these conflicts that Christians are fighting against Christians in Ukraine with the Russian invasion."
Jews, Muslims and Christians are involved in the conflict in Israel, Overbeck said. "In both armed conflicts, I am convinced time and again that people are fighting each other here who all believe in the one good God and yet bring much suffering, hardship and death upon others." Christmas, with its message of peace, is a "reminder to get our shattered peace order and thus the re-foundation of the global political order on track".
Ulf Schlüter, Theological Vice President of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia, recalled the word of the year, "crisis mode", in his Christmas message. Everyone is aware of what this means. "The images from Ukraine, war as normality. The murderous excess of violence in Israel on October 7, the war in Gaza since then, and as a result - once again and again, in our country and around the world: new outbreaks of the old anti-Semitic madness. Jews who fear for their lives in Germany because they are Jews." In addition, there is inflation and empty coffers, a nursing care crisis, underfunded social systems "and above all - still all too readily suppressed: climate change".
The church itself is also in crisis mode. The last few weeks have shown once and for all that this crisis is by no means Catholic, said Schlüter. Annette Kurschus, chairwoman of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), resigned on November 20 after she was accused of having long been aware of suspicions of sexually abusive behavior against a church employee.
Schlüter said that God knows only too well that man is a "catastrophic being". "Violence is part of human nature, it's been written on our foreheads since Cain. And we like to write good commandments in the wind." In this overall situation, God placed himself as a child in a manger. "Come close to us - and in the end, of course, under the wheels. That's just the way humans are."
Christmas message from Ulf Schlüter
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- In his Christmas sermon, the Bishop of North Rhine-Westphalia lamented the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, highlighting the tragic fact that Christians are fighting against each other in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion.
- During this Christmas season, the conflicts in Israel, involving Jews, Muslims, and Christians, are causing horror and concern, with people fighting despite believing in the same God.
- Ulf Schlüter, Theological Vice President of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia, delivered a poignant Christmas message, referencing the word of the year "crisis mode" and the current conflicts in Ukraine and Israel that have led to increased anti-Semitic sentiments.
- The church itself is in crisis mode, as demonstrated by the recent resignation of Annette Kurschus, chairwoman of the Evangelical Church in Germany, following allegations of sexual abuse.
- In his Christmas sermon, Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck from Bielefeld mentioned the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and Israel, stressing that despite shared beliefs in a single divine entity, the resulting violence, suffering, and death are indeed paradoxical and abysmal.
Source: www.stern.de
