Press Releases

Bedford-Strohm preaches at the meeting of prayer for peace of the world religions with Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew in Rome

Shortly before Sea Watch 4 set out on its first search-and-rescue mission, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chair of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), gave the crew members a send-off with a travelling blessing.

The Bishops’ Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD) has reacted with concern to Israeli government’s announced intention to annex parts of the West Bank. They fear that this step will further exacerbate the political conflict situation in the Holy Land.

With an urgent plea that the future of people in Europe lies in Europe and should not be left to the nation states alone, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chair of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and Bishop Georg Bätzing, chair of the German Bishops’ Conference, have encouraged an active design of the German presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The executive committee, on behalf of the central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), has decided, in close consultation with the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and other host churches and local partners, to postpone the 11th assembly, originally planned for September 2021 in Karlsruhe, Germany, until 2022.

The situation in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos is becoming increasingly unbearable for the people stranded there. Currently over 20,000 refugees are staying in and around camps designed to accommodate 3,000.