COUNTRY
GermanyPOPULATION
81,305,856 (July 2012 est.)GDP PER CAPITA
$38,400 (2011 est.)RELIGIONS
Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%AT THE CENTER
RELATED RESOURCES
ORGANIZATIONS (5)
Buddha House
Coordinating Council of Muslims in Germany
Council on Islam for the Federal Republic of Germany
Coordinating Council of Muslims in Germany
Council on Islam for the Federal Republic of Germany
PEOPLE (8)
QUOTES (8)
Robert Zollitsch on Church and State
February 20, 2009
Angela Merkel on Freedom and the Nazi Legacy at the New School in Berlin
February 19, 2009
Angela Merkel on Mosques in Germany at the Christian Democratic Union Conference
December 4, 2007
February 20, 2009
Angela Merkel on Freedom and the Nazi Legacy at the New School in Berlin
February 19, 2009
Angela Merkel on Mosques in Germany at the Christian Democratic Union Conference
December 4, 2007
PUBLICATIONS (4)
The Challenge of Pluralism: Church and State in Five Democracies
January 1, 2008
Being Jewish in the New Germany
January 15, 2006
German Nationalism and Religious Conflict
January 1, 1995
January 1, 2008
Being Jewish in the New Germany
January 15, 2006
German Nationalism and Religious Conflict
January 1, 1995
Germany
Interviews (23)
Germany possesses an increasingly secular society and a thoroughly organized religious sector, with the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches as its largest denominations. Since the Protestant Reformation (1517-1648), the German nation has been divided along confessional lines, with Catholics concentrated in the south and west and Protestants in the north and east. German reunification in 1990 greatly increased the country’s non-religious population, a legacy of the state atheism of previously Soviet-controlled East Germany. Christian church membership has decreased in recent decades, particularly among Protestants. Germany has a small but thriving Jewish population, with a considerable number of émigrés from the former Soviet Union. The Basic Law of Germany guarantees religious freedom and lays out the general structure of church-state relations. Religious communities may organize into “statutory corporations” in order to receive tax privileges and give religious instruction in public schools. There is a growing Muslim community as a result of decades of immigration, mainly from Turkey, which still lacks full state recognition.
Background: During this exchange with Michael Bodakowski and Katherine Marshall in November of 2010, Visaka Dharmadasa discusses her work to build sustainable peace in Sri Lanka. She recounts how she came to establish the organizations Parents of Servicemen Missing in Action and the Association of War Affected Women after her own son was declared missing-in-action. Describing the role of the Catholic Church in building bridges in Sri Lanka, Ms. Dharmadasa highlights the universal religious...
This conversation between Ted Olbrich and Ethan Carroll took place over three-and-a-half hours on August 30, 2010, and also includes information from a brief follow-up phone call. Pastor Olbrich discusses the structure of Foursquare Cambodia while conducting a tour of the Church's Phnom Penh training facility, contributing enlightening insights into Pentecostalism's approach to reaching the “poorest of the poor.” He also discusses his belief in the failures of “humanist...
This discussion between Agneta Dau Valler, Katherine Marshall, Augustina Delaney, and Ethan Carroll took place on July 30, 2010 in Phnom Penh. The interview highlights the work and role of Church World Service, Cambodia, on a wide range of issues: capacity building of local partner organizations; village-level development in Cambodia's poorest regions; disaster risk reduction; and work to support peace and reconciliation. Ms. Dau Valler explains how CWS puts programs together and invests in...
Background: This exchange reflects two separate discussions, the first in September 2009 with Augustina Delaney, and the second in July 2010 with Katherine Marshall and Ethan Carroll, both in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The context was primarily WFDD's review of development and religion in Cambodia, but the aim was also a broader exploration of issues of peacebuilding and women, peace, and development, and the evolution of the unique role of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Ms. DeBoer...
Background: As part of the Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding Fellowship, Christopher O'Connor interviewed Alimigbe Francis, OI, Abuja Provincial Secretary for Justice, Development & Peace/Caritas/Health (JDPC). JDPC is an organ of the Catholic Church that implements human development programs aimed at “improving the lives of the economically disadvantaged, the structurally deprived, the unjustly punished, and those under threat and violence.” Alimigbe Francis, OI, who has been with JDPC...
Background: In this June 2010 exchange with Katherine Marshall, Karen Torjesen reflects on the evolution of her intellectual interest in religious history towards a focus on the role of women in the early church. That interest in religion and its gender dimensions paralleled a growing interest in women's studies. The two threads found themselves united in the development of Claremont's interreligious studies program and rooted in the social realities of the Los Angeles community. Her focus...
Background: This June 2010 exchange between Kathleen Kuehnast and Susan Hayward focuses on Kathleen's experiences working in Northern Ireland and in Kyrgyzstan, which in turn led her into the field of conflict resolution, with a particular focus on gender dynamics in conflict. Kathleen presses for religion to be better understood and examined as it relates to gender dynamics in conflict and peace.
Background: Etienne De Jonghe's career has focused on working for world peace. He was Secretary General of Pax Christi International for nearly 30 years. (Pax Christi is a Catholic international peace movement, autonomous with respect to church authorities with a very strong lay input. Its international secretariat is currently located in Brussels.) In the first part of the interview, De Jonghe reflects on the evolution of Pax Christi over the years and his role in guiding and shaping the...
Background: In this April 2010 telephone and email exchange with Katherine Marshall, Wendy Tyndale recalls how she came to be engaged with the start-up of the World Faiths Development Dialogue in 1998 and reflects on the experiences, especially in Central America, that inspired her interest in issues for women’s roles in peace. Over her long career as a journalist and leader in Christian Aid, Tyndale was often and deeply exposed to conflict situations, especially in Central America. Mayans...
Background: As part of the Foreign Policy Practitioners Interview Series, Dr. Thomas Farr interviewed Elliott Abrams, former member and Chairman of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and current Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations Washington Office. In this interview, Abrams speaks about how his professional and religious experience led to his involvement with the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. Additionally,...
Background: The context for this discussion is preparation for a consultation on faith and development in Southeast Asia, held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on December 14-15, 2009. The consultation was an endeavor of the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD), the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, with support from the Luce Foundation, and the University of Cambodia. It aimed to take stock of the wide range of ongoing work by different organizations...
Background: This discussion took place as part of preparations for a consultation on faith and development in Southeast Asia, held December 14-15 2009 in Phnom Penh. The interview was conducted by telephone between Heng Monychenda and Michael Bodakowski. Heng Monychenda, Director of Buddhism for Development, works to bridge the teachings of engaged Buddhism with development, contributing his personal understanding of the Cambodian context, the training he received at Harvard University, and...
Background: Bernard Liese has focused over a long career on global public health issues. In this discussion the focus is on tuberculosis but reaches beyond to broader issues of international engagement on priority public health. He describes the “rediscovery” of tuberculosis in the 1980s and 1990s, as it had largely disappeared from view in wealthier countries. New challenges include: powerful evidence of high TB HIV/AIDS co-infection and drug resistant TB. The remarkable performance of the...
Background: Augustina Delaney and Michael Scharff met Father Kike in Battambang on October 15, 2009, as part of the World Faith Development Dialogue's review of development and faith in Cambodia. The interview was updated in September 2010 by Katherine Marshall, in an email exchange with Father Kike. The discussion explores the links between faith and works in Battambang. Father Kike touches on tensions between the Catholic and Protestant communities in Battambang, Buddhist-Catholic...
Background: Cornelio Sommaruga held many leadership posts over a long career, including in the Swiss Diplomatic Service, president of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), and President of Initiatives of Change (IofC). Since his formal retirement from the ICRC in 1999, he has headed numerous nongovernmental organizations and undertaken several public service tasks. In this interview, he reflects on his career and above all questions how, across his different challenges,...
Background: Agnes Abuom is a leading figure within African ecumenical circles and, increasingly, within global faith institutions. This discussion between Dr. Abuom, Katherine Marshall, and Thomas Bohnett took place in Accra, Ghana, on July 3, 2009 and highlights Dr. Abuom's experiences with political, ecumenical, and peace movements. She recounts her early years growing up in Kenya and her “faith biography.” Involved from her girlhood in both religion and politics, by the late 1990s she was...
Background: As part of the Peacebuilding Practitioners Interview Series, Jason Klocek interviewed Sammy Kalisa, who serves as a Project Manager for Rwandans Allied for Peace and Progress (RAPP). In this interview, Kalisa provides his opinion on what more needs to be done to complete the reconciliation process in Rwanda. He also discusses what Rwandans can learn from their history.
Background: As part of the Peacebuilding Practitioners Interview Series, Dr. Eric Patterson interviewed Fatuma Ndangiza, who was appointed to the position of Executive Secretary for the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC) in 2002. In this interview, Ndangiza speaks about her work with NURC and the role she sees it playing in reconciliation efforts in the future. She particularly reviews what focus groups identified as key causes of the conflict in Rwanda.
Background: Reverend Canon Sam Ruteikara is the Chair of the AIDS Faith Based Organization Self Coordinating Entity (SCE) and its representative on the Partnership Committee at Uganda AIDS Commission, as well a member of the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) for the Global Fund. He is also the Co-Chair of the Uganda National AIDS Prevention Committee, Chair of the AIDS Technical Working Group (TWG), and the Chair for the Civil Society Inter Constituency Coordinating Committee (CICC)....
Background: Mario Giro began working as a youth-oriented community organizer for the Community of Sant'Egidio, a Catholic lay organization based in Rome, and is now the Director for International Affairs for the organization. Giro talked about the Community's central role in fostering peace to Mozambique, and how that experience informed the organization's approach to conflict resolution. The keys to the Community's success in this area, Giro said, are its patience and humility. He discussed...
Background: Dele Oluwu, after working in academia and then in development with the UN and African Development Bank, came to the Netherlands in 1995 to work at the Institute of Social Studies at the Hague. While working there he noted a surprising deficit of active churches in the region, and began planting parishes with other like-minded individuals in the Netherlands. To date Olowu has founded 130 churches in Europe. The interview talked about evangelization in the context of a predominantly...
Background: In this exchange, Deborah Dortzbach, World Relief's International Director for HIV/AIDS Programs, discusses her vision of how communities of faith can be mobilized to address pressing health and development challenges. She says that collaboration between faith and government or secular institutions must be preceded by a “discernment” process in which both sides determine the extent to which they can cooperate without compromising their core mission or values. Ms....
Background: This is the record of a discussion between William O'Keefe and Katherine Marshall (Berkley Center) that was part of preparatory work for an April 16 conference at Georgetown University on the role of faith-based organizations in development. The conference is part of a joint Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs and Luce Foundation project on religion and international relations.