Just like the population at large, the German Bundeswehr has undergone a remarkable trajectory of religious pluralisation in recent years. As of 2012, over 48,000 Catholics and over 63,000 Protestants served in the armed forces. This would mean that just over half of Germany’s 180,000 soldiers identified as Christian; a figure that maps quite closely onto…
After months of arduous negotiations following September 2017’s federal elections, the new German government was sworn in on March 14. Complex personnel choices After the cornerstones of the coalition deal had been agreed upon in early February, the three participating parties – Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its conservative Bavarian sister party CSU, and…
March 28 Aiman Mazyek, representative of the council of Muslims in Germany has proposed the inclusion of two holidays into the public calendar, one holiday for Eid Al-Adha (sacrifice) and one holiday for Ramadan. The integration of Muslims in Germany would be strengthened through the recognition of Islamic holidays. These holidays would be useful to…
21 June 2012 Starting on Monday, the 25th of June, Barcelona hosts the II Iberian-American Interreligious Summit. Among others, the program will address issues such as freedom and human rights, brotherhood and solidarity, dialogue and coexistence, inclusion and equity. The findings aim to provide the XXII Iberian-American Summit with proposals to achieve stable and equitable…
Following complaints from parents, an elementary Catholic school in Weert has decided against serving exclusively halal food for this year’s Christmas meal. The parents’ association organizing the meal had decided for convenience to serve a completely halal meal to the 400 students. School principal Margo Janssen emphasized that as a decision of inclusion and convenience,…
