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<p>Priests and lay ministers protesting the Vatican ban publicly blessed same-sex couples in May at more than 100 churches across Germany, including this one in Cologne.</p><p>German Catholic bishops and lay leaders on Friday called for their church to bless same-sex relationships, challenging a Vatican ban on the practice.</p>

German ‘Synodal Way’ Extended to 2023 as Assembly Ends Abruptly After Votes on Sexual Morality, PriesthoodThe synodal assembly ended earlier than expected on Saturday afternoon after Bishop Bätzing asked organizers to count whether the meeting had a quorum of 154 participants after many departed early.FRANKFURT, Germany —The German Catholic Church’s “Synodal Way” will be extended to 2023 after its plenary session ended abruptly on Saturday following votes in favor of a text endorsing same-sex blessings and a discussion of whether the priesthood is necessary.Bishop Georg Bätzing, chairman of the German bishops’ conference, and Thomas Sternberg, president of the Central...

The document was approved by the Synodal Way in a 168 to 28, vote with five abstentions; sixty-nine of the Synodal Assembly members are German bishops.The “Synodal Way,” a conference consisting of German bishops, priests, religious, and laity, on Friday approved a draft document that appears to undermine Catholic doctrine on fundamental points of sexual morality, offering a defense of homosexual relationships, “self-stimulating sexuality,” contraception, and civil divorce and remarriage. The document, titled “Living in Successful Relationships – Living Love in Sexuality and Partnership,” is described by Vatican News as giving “a clear rejection to so-called conversion therapies for homosexuals”...

BERLIN — Millions of Germans will head to the polls in a federal election on Sunday that will determine who will succeed Angela Merkel after 16 years as Germany's chancellor. According to the latest polls, Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party is narrowly ahead of Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian partner, the Christian Social Union. They're closely followed by the Greens, the far-right Alternative for Germany and the libertarian Free Democratic Party, all holding onto double-digit poll numbers going into Sunday's election. Josef Janning, a senior associate fellow with the German Council on Foreign Relations, says the...

With elections looming in Germany and France, European politicians are determined to avoid the sort of populist backlash that followed the 2015 refugee crisis. But experts say the comparison is flawed. BERLIN — Even before the first group of 19 Afghan refugees landed in Germany on Wednesday, the line was making the rounds in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party: “2015 mustn’t be repeated.” Armin Laschet, who wants to succeed Ms. Merkel as chancellor after next month’s elections, said it on Monday. A top party official used the same words shortly after. A government minister repeated them again. The fall of...

Another climate activist on hunger strike in Berlin has been taken to the hospital after fainting. Six activists calling themselves "the last generation" have not eaten since the end of August. A 19-year-old climate activist on a weeks-long hunger strike outside the German parliament was taken to the hospital on Saturday, a spokesperson for the Charite hospital said. The spokeswoman said it was unclear if the teen intended to continue her hunger strike. Six climate activists began an open-ended hunger strike in front of the Reichstag building, home to the German lower house of parliament, on August 30. They said...

Facebook says it has deleted the accounts, pages and groups linked to virus conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers in Germany who are vocal opponents of government restrictions to control the coronavirus pandemic. With just 10 days to go before Germany’s parliamentary elections — where the handling of the pandemic by Angela Merkel’s goverment will come under scrutiny — Facebook said it had “removed a network of Facebook and Instagram accounts” linked to the so-called “Querdenker” or Lateral Thinker movement. The pages posted “harmful health misinformation, hate speech and incitement to violence”, the social media giant said in a statement. It...

PARIS --- Just days after France and Germany signed a treaty in which they agree “to develop a common approach to arms exports with regard to joint projects,” the German government has blocked the sale of Meteor air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia. The Meteor, developed and produced by Paris-based MBDA but with German components, is not the target of a specific German veto, but rather its export to Saudi Arabia is being blocked by the German government’s embargo on all arms sales to the desert kingdom, decided in late November. An MBDA spokesman this morning would neither confirm nor deny...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday described herself as a feminist, saying her position on equality between men and women had developed over the years. “Essentially, it’s about the fact that men and women are equal, in the sense of participation in society and in life in general. And in that sense I can say, ‘yes, I’m a feminist’,” Merkel told reporters after a meeting with Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. “For me, the word ‘feminism’ is linked to a specific movement which has fought a great deal to put these issues on society’s agenda,” said Germany’s first woman leader....

The German Ambassador to China, Jan Hecker, has died suddenly less than two weeks after taking up the job in Beijing. The 54-year-old’s death was confirmed by Germany’s Foreign Ministry on Monday. Hecker, who was a former foreign policy adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel, began his posting on Aug. 24. Hecker had arrived in Beijing on Aug 1. with his wife and three children, according to German outlet Deutsche Welle. The details surrounding his death have not yet been disclosed. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said there was no indication Hacker’s death was linked to his diplomatic role.

BERLIN — A leading member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Union bloc called Thursday for the United States to provide funding and shelter to those fleeing Afghanistan now. “The United States of America bear the main responsibility for the current situation,” Markus Soeder, the governor of Bavaria, said. “Because of their decision to leave Afghanistan, in parts overly hasty, they have the main responsibility.” Soeder noted that the U.S. had already provided security guarantees for the evacuation of foreigners and local staff from Kabul, and should do likewise “when it comes to providing financial support to neighboring countries, especially...

BERLIN – Germany may need to evacuate as many as 10,000 people from Afghanistan, Chancellor Angela Merkel told party colleagues on Monday, according to party sources. That includes 2,500 Afghan support staff as well as human rights activists, lawyers and others whom the government sees being at risk if they remain in the country after the Taliban seized Kabul. She also said that Germany should cooperate with countries bordering Afghanistan to support those fleeing from the country now. “This topic will keep us busy for a very long time,” she said, according to the party sources.

The withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan is the "biggest debacle" that NATO has suffered since its founding, the head of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, Armin Laschet, said on Monday. Laschet said focus at the moment must be on the German military's evacuation operation from Afghanistan."But we will talk about the causes and conclusions drawn after this rescue mission -- a no holds barred analysis of errors in Germany, with our allies and in the international community.”

Berlin (AFP) - Allies and critics alike on Monday condemned the United States over the botched end to its 20-year NATO campaign in Afghanistan. Stunned by the Taliban's lightning advance across the country after the departure of Western troops, NATO allies have been left scrambling to evacuate their nationals as well as vulnerable Afghans. In a meeting with her party's top brass, German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted that developments in the country were "bitter". She said however that once the United States decided to withdraw from Afghanistan, it was clear that Germany and other allies had to follow suit. The...

Germany has made a big deal about how global warming is the reason behind the region's catastrophic floods.According to NBC News:"The German language hardly knows any words for the devastation that has been caused here," [Chancellor Angela Merkel] said.She said the force of the storms suggested that they had "something to do with climate change," adding, "We have to hurry, we have to get faster in the fight against climate change."She also palled it up with Joe Biden on climate change just a few days ago:While in the United States, the chancellor and President Biden signed a pact that included...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Washington on Wednesday for what will in all likelihood be her last official visit to the US before her almost 16-year term in office ends after the September federal election. Although the Merkel era is coming to an end, the trip is being seen as marking a new beginning in German-US relations following the tensions between Berlin and Washington under the administration of Donald Trump. However, although new US President Joe Biden has vowed to steer his country away from the far more unilateral "America First" course of his predecessor, he and Merkel will...

A number of staff members had been affected and the hotel has been closed for deep cleaning following discussions with Public Health England (PHE).A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also confirmed Ms Merkel would still be attending the summit.

President Joe Biden defended on Tuesday his decision to allow the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline to finish construction, arguing that blocking it would hurt his relationship with European countries. The Biden administration plans to scrap sanctions on the Russian company responsible for the pipeline, Axios reported last week, clearing the way for the project to continue. Biden spoke about the pipeline as he left the White House for a trip to Delaware, placing a priority on European interests, despite Republican senators condemning the project. “To go ahead and impose sanctions now would, I think, be counterproductive in terms of...

When the U.S. created NATO, a primary purpose of the alliance was to serve as a western wall to defend Germany against the 400,000 Russian troops on the eastern side of the Elbe River. Seventy years later, Germany has decided to double its dependence on Vladimir Putin's Russia for the natural gas needed to run the German economy, despite the opposition of her great protector, the USA. The Biden administration decided to waive sanctions on Matthias Warnig, the ally of Putin whose company, Nord Stream 2 AG, is laying the pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany that...

Leading German politicians are planning to attend a demonstration against antisemitism and in solidarity with Israel on Thursday evening, the organizers announced earlier in the day. The event — starting at 7 p.m. (17:00 UTC) in front of the Brandenburg Gate — is being organized by an array of different groups, including the Jewish Community of Berlin, the Kurdish Community in Germany, and the German Trade Union Confederation. The list of speakers included Germany's Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the socialist party (SPD), the leader of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) Christian Lindner, General Secretary of Angela Merkel's Christian...