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Seventy-five years ago, on 9 April 1945, the German Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, with six other members of the conspiracy to overthrow Adolf Hitler, was hanged at Flossenbürg execution camp in Germany. He was 39.

A regional conference held 5-6 September in Berlin allowed participants to look at statelessness in the European context through the lenses of human rights and development.

The conference, with the theme “Statelessness in the European Context: Prevention, Reduction and Protection,” approached statelessness as an issue that is often invisible even though it occurs in so many countries around the world.

A group of Protestant pilgrims are exercising their legs in an untypical fashion these days: by stepping in the pedals. Their 14-day Bike Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace winds along both sides of the Rhine from Constance to Worms.

"Günther Gassmann's life and work reflect the ecumenical ideals of theological reflection based deeply in careful historical understanding of the Christian tradition, combined with sincere and open-minded work to address and overcome the historic divisions within the church”, wrote the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, upon the passing of Prof. Dr Günther Gassmann, on 11 January.

Baden-Württemberg minister-president, Winfried Kretschmann, has expressed gratitude to the churches for putting Christian service and neighbourly love into practice, and not only at Sunday sermons. The German state’s governor Kretschmann gave his message in a meeting with the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, in Stuttgart last Thursday.

Researchers around the world have a new resource for studying the history of the ecumenical movement — the personal papers of Philip Potter, general secretary of the WCC from 1972 to 1984. “We hope that the WCC Archives will receive many researchers from around the world who will learn more about the ecumenical movement to which Philip significantly contributed throughout his life,” said Hans von Rütte, WCC archivist.

A plenary discussion on support by religious communities for the rights of children, and a first draft of the statement of “principles for child-friendly churches,” captured the imagination of the Central Committee of the WCC on 27 June. The document will now undergo further revision and be resubmitted at the next WCC executive committee meeting.

Eastern Germany is the heartland of the Protestant Reformation of Martin Luther, but today is one of the most secularized parts of the world, says German sociologist Monika Wohlrab-Sahr. “East Germans tend to be stubborn secularists,” she said in a presentation at a recent international consultation on “Reformation – Education – Transformation” in Halle, about 110 miles (175 kilometres) southwest of Berlin, that took place from 18 to 22 May.