Germany's president urges reconciliation across EU
October 9, 2017
Ahead of a visit with the pope, the president has warned of failing to value citizens' sentiments amid crises in the EU. He said reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants could serve as a model forward for Europe.
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German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Rome on Sunday that European citizens' sentiments about certain issues needed to be taken seriously as the EU copes with several crises across the bloc .
"From Britain and Catalonia, to Poland and Greece," it is clear the effect people's emotions can have on politics, Steinmeier said in a speech at the Christuskirche, a Lutheran Evangelical church in the Italian capital. "Emotions and feelings are never secondary."
Steinmeier, who served as Germany's foreign minister before being elected president, said that citizens' sentiments had been undervalued in the process of European integration. "Such a project can work in the long run only if the heart and soul are included," he added.
Reconciliation: A European model
In his speech, the German president said the reconciliation between Protestants and Catholics could be used as a model for coexistence in Europe as Germany marks the 500th year anniversary since Martin Luther triggered the Protestant Reformation with his "95 Theses."
A lifelong Protestant, Steinmeier is scheduled to meet with the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, on Monday, in which he is expected to discuss Europe's challenges, including the ongoing migration crisis, far-right sentiment and growing disillusionment with the European project.
Since 2015 when more than 1 million migrants entered the EU, Francis has advocated for migrants' rights, urging European leaders to show compassion and work together for a bloc-wide solution to the plight of refugees.
The Reformation: The Luther effect goes global
To mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Berlin's German Historical Museum presents the special exhibition, "The Luther Effect."
Image: Deutsches Historisches Museum
All roads led to Rome
In this painting (1625-1650) dating from around 100 years after the Reformation, Martin Luther (center) is among a circle of reformers. Portraying the renewal of the church and the battle of wills among religious scholars as secular rulers watch on in the foreground, the painting signifies the interwoven nature of religion and politics at the time.
Image: Deutsches Historisches Museum
A child reforms the Church of England
Edward VI (1537-1553), whose father Henry VIII had separated the English church from Rome, was the first English king with a Protestant education. Edward held religious services in the English language, abolished celibacy for priests and introduced the Book of Common Prayer before dying as a 15-year-old. The painting is "King Edward VI and the Pope" by an unknown artist from circa 1575.
Image: National Portrait Gallery, London
Korean translation of the Ten Commandments,1911
Korea and then later South Korea were considered boom countries for Protestantism as it spread east. An important part of the mission was to make use of the phonemic Korean alphabetic, Hangul, for Bible translations. Today, nearly one fifth of the South Korean population follows the Protestant doctrine, which is a record in East Asia.
Image: The Korean Christian Museum at Soongsil University Seoul
The Protestant empire
"Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way," a mural by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze on display in the United States Capitol Building, shows American pioneers reaching the Rocky Mountains as they head West. Below them is a panorama of the pristine San Francisco Bay is the distance. Many such pilgrims were Protestants who had been persecuted in Europe, but left and spread their faith across America.
Image: Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Going back to Luther
Morning prayer in the Lutheran Kariakoo church in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Evangelical church in the East African nation is the largest Lutheran parish on the continent. Their charismatic leaders see themselves as representatives of the original Lutheran ideals.
Image: Deutsches Historisches Museum/Karsten Hein
From Bohemia to Tanzania
The Moravian Brotherhood, a Christian faith movement originating from the Bohemian Reformation that is not bound by any denomination, played a major role in the spread of Protestantism throughout Africa. Their charismatic preachers spread from Tanzania across the entire African continent doing missionary work. Johann Valentin Haidt portrays this Luther effect in his "Erstlingsbild" from 1748.
Image: Unitätsarchiv der Evang. Brüder-Unität, Herrnhut, Unitätsarchiv: GS 463
Protestantism in 17th-century Lapland
Protestantism penetrated the remotest corners of Northern Europe. The church abruptly changed the life of the indigenous residents as their local rites and customs had to give way to Christianization and the church. An unknown painter captured this theme sometimes prior to 1668 in far northern Lapland using both summer and winter landscapes.
Image: Staatliche Schlösser, Burgen und Gärten Sachsen, gemeinnützige GmbH, Burg Kriebstein/Punctum/Bertram Kobe
The deification of the Swedish king
When Sweden’s King Gustavus II Adolphus attacked parts of what is now Germany during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and prevented a victory for the Habsburg-Catholic coalition, he inadvertently secured the future of German Protestantism. The act was glorifed in this painting titled “Apotheosis of King Gustavus II Adolphus” from around 1650.
Image: Nationalmuseum Stockholm, Schweden
A new oath on wool and silk
This tapestry embroidered with silk and wool shows the interweaving of Lutheran faith into the state. The Swedish parliament adopted a new law in 1686 that sealed the unity of the church and state, and Lutheranism became the state religion. The textile from around 1690 shows the swearing-in of the representatives of the estates on both the Bible and the Swedish Book of Law.
Image: Östergötlands Museum, Linköping
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After his meeting at the Vatican, Steinmeier is expected to visit the Sant'Egidio Catholic aid organization which helps migrants and the homeless.