Church in Europe

Protesters say out with Cyprus’s ‘Satanic’ Eurovision entry
- Mar 7, 2021
Dozens of Orthodox Christian faithful held up wooden crosses and sang Church hymns outside of Cyprus’s state broadcaster on Saturday to demand the withdrawal of the country’s controversial entry for the Eurovision song contest — titled “El Diablo” — that they say promotes satanic worship.

By Menelaos Hadjicostis
First oak trees selected to replace Notre Dame’s spire
- Mar 6, 2021
The first eight oak trees destined to replace the destroyed spire of Paris’s scorched Notre Dame cathedral have been selected from the Bercé forest in the French Loire region, church officials said on Friday.

By Associated Press
Social media campaign launched against patents during pandemic
- Mar 4, 2021
As members of the World Trade Organization consider a request to allow countries to waive certain types of intellectual property on COVID-19 vaccines and related equipment, Doctors Without Borders was promoting a social media campaign to put pressure on governments to choose global solidarity over profits.

By Carol Glatz

French clergy abuse was more extensive than thought, says commission head
- Mar 4, 2021
Catholic clergy in France perpetrated more than three times as many sexual abuse offenses as previously thought, said the head of a bishops’ commission whose report is due out in September.

By Catholic News Service

Lawyer: New report on abuse in Cologne will incriminate church officials
- Mar 3, 2021
The second expert report commissioned to investigate abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne also incriminates church officials who are still alive and accuses them of mistakes in dealing with cases of sexualized violence, according to its author, Björn Gercke.

By Catholic News Service
Cyprus Church says ‘satanic’ Eurovision entry must be yanked
- Mar 3, 2021
The Orthodox Church of Cyprus on Tuesday called for the withdrawal of the country’s controversial entry into this year’s Eurovision song contest titled “El Diablo,” charging that the song makes an international mockery of country’s moral foundations.

By Associated Press
Polish court acquits activists who put LGBT rainbow on icon
- Mar 2, 2021
A court in Poland on Tuesday acquitted three activists who had been accused of desecration and offending religious feelings for adding the LGBT rainbow to images of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus.

By Vanessa Gera
German bishops elect female general secretary amid abuse-dominated meeting
- Feb 26, 2021
The German bishops’ conference elected a woman as general secretary during a virtual assembly that turned into a crisis meeting focused on the church’s handling of sex abuse.

By Anli Serfontein