Asset Publisher

Event Reports

European Churches commit themselves to continue the dialogue and reflections on Human Dignity and Human Rights

by Reverend Matthias Riemenschneider

International Conference in Bad Boll, Germany, discusses the Christian understanding of Human Rights

From 9-11 December, some 60 representatives of Christian churches from 14 European countries met in the Protestant Academy, Bad Boll, Germany, to discuss the different confessional perspectives on the Christian understanding of human rights. There were different approaches to the understanding of human dignity and human value but there was agreement that the Churches have to be strong advocates of the protection of international human rights standards.

Asset Publisher

The question of how to understand and protect human rights became very concrete during the conference when some of the participants gave witness about their personal experiences of violations of fundamental rights, e.g. the deprivation of freedom of opinion and expression, due to violence during civil war or persecution because of their Christian faith.

Speakers in the Conference, among others, were Archbishop Feofan of Berlin and Germany of the Moscow Patriarchate, Rev. Dr. h.c. Thomas Wipf, the President of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, and Rev. Rüdiger Noll, Director of the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches. The Conference was welcomed by Bishop Dr. h.c. Frank Otfried July from the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg. The participants in the conference expressed their intention to continue the dialogue in order to support the churches to strengthen their work in the human rights’ area. The conference in the Protestant Academy, Bad Boll, was co-organised by the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE), the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CSC of CEC), the Moscow Patriarchate and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Asset Publisher

Contact

Dr. Karlies Abmeier

Head of Team Religion, Integration and Family Policy

Karlies.Abmeier@kas.de +49 30 26996-3374 +49 30 26996-3551

comment-portlet

Asset Publisher

Asset Publisher

About this series

The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, its educational institutions, centres and foreign offices, offer several thousand events on various subjects each year. We provide up to date and exclusive reports on selected conferences, events and symposia at www.kas.de. In addition to a summary of the contents, you can also find additional material such as pictures, speeches, videos or audio clips.

Asset Publisher