Free Republic

Priests who resist blessing gay couples incur a curse, to heed Münster Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Dieter Geerlings, in a statement issued at a religious service in the queer community in Münster. “Human rights are at stake when it comes to homophobia. A radical change is necessary so that the curse can finally become a blessing," Geerlings said, quoting theologian Hildegund Keul. Many queer people, he says, feel hurt by the way the Church treats them. "The church must have the courage to welcome back those it has offended and still offends," Geerlings said. Only then can it become a sign...

Disgust at play showing Princess Diana in bed with Down's Syndrome men Theatregoers in the German capital Berlin walked out of a controversial play about Princess Diana that showed her in bed with two Down's Syndrome men while the Queen was portrayed by a circus dwarf. "Good job that I hadn’t eaten beforehand because otherwise I would have thrown up," wrote one theatre critic after watching the opening night of the play at the Volksbuehne Theatre. The bizarre drama, which is due to come to London next month, premiered on Wednesday night and dozens of people walked out on it...

HALBERSTADT, Germany (AFP) - A new chord was scheduled to sound in the world's slowest and longest lasting concert that is taking a total 639 years to perform. The abandoned Buchardi church in Halberstadt, eastern Germany, is the venue for a mind-boggling 639-year-long performance of a piece of music by US experimental composer John Cage (1912-1992). Entitled "organ2/ASLSP" (or "As SLow aS Possible"), the performance began on September 5, 2001 and is scheduled to last until 2639. The first year and half of the performance was total silence, with the first chord -- G-sharp, B and G-sharp -- not sounding...

Attempts to persuade young Britons that Germany is cool have made little progress, and many still associate the country with Adolf Hitler, beer and football, a survey shows. The Goethe Institute, which promotes German culture abroad, launched a campaign last year to promote Germany, using grooving ravers at Berlin's Love Parade and model Claudia Schiffer encouraging Britons to learn the language. But a survey of young Germans and Britons by the institute and the British Council, which publicises British culture, showed it will take more than that to shift British prejudices. Germans saw Britain as modern and multi-cultural but Britons...