Faith Matters: The Church Program

The Moravian Church is one of the oldest Protestant denominations. Since the eighteenth century it has been sending missionaries to many parts of the world. In the former Dutch colony of Suriname, on the northeast coast of South America, the church is especially strong. Surinamese Moravians will be organizing the World Day of Prayer in March 2018.

The Lutheran School in Berlin doesn’t simply follow a curriculum; it is committed to Christian values. In classes called "Responsibility" and "Challenge," the students at ESBZ learn to act on their own initiative and to take responsibility for their own lives and for society.

Four Cistercian monks from Austria are bringing monastic life back to Neuzelle in the eastern German state of Brandenburg. The town's name comes from the Nova Cella abbey that was founded here in 1268. The building hasn't been used as a monastery for centuries, but the monks hope to restore its role as a spiritual center of Catholicism.

A woman is running the Vatican Museums for the first time in their 500-year history. One year ago, Pope Francis appointed the 56-year-old Italian art historian, Barbara Jatta, to manage the papal collections, which contain a staggering quarter-million objects and attract some six million visitors each year.

As the Lutheran World Federation celebrates 500 years of Protestantism, Namibians remember a grim chapter of their history. Missionaries set sail for the future German colony of South West Africa in 1840 fired with the ideals of the Reformation. But their message of humble service prepared the way for economic exploitation - and a conflict that ended in genocide.

Most Russian Lutherans are ethnic Germans. Although services are now conducted in Russian, the "Our Father” is still prayed in the language of Luther. The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Russia has some 40,000 members and is headed by 34-year-old Dietrich Brauer, the youngest archbishop in the Lutheran World Federation.

An inter-confessional church is one shared by Catholics and Protestants. The Reformation led to 2,000 of these "marriages of convenience”.

Some 300 years ago, the Lutheran pastor August Hermann Francke founded a charity school in Halle-on-the-Saale, about 200 kilometers southwest of Berlin. Today that foundation is an impressive complex of institutions - a veritable town within a town, providing accommodation and employment for more than 4,000 people.

Lourdes in southwest France is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in the world. In May each year, thousands of military personnel from almost 50 countries flock to this Marian shrine. The pilgrims in uniform pray and sing - but they also find time to relax and make friends.

Lourdes in southwest France is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in the world. In May each year, thousands of military personnel from almost 50 countries flock to this Marian shrine. The pilgrims in uniform pray and sing - but they also find time to relax and make friends.