Faith Matters: Recent Episodes
Deutsche Welle
Focusing on the lives of Christians, the work of churches in Germany and abroad, this program also tackles aspects of religion that affect people all over the world.
The small village of Tholey in southwestern Germany is home to the oldest monastery on German soil. Founded in the seventh century, the Abbey of St Maurice was plundered and badly damaged 1000 years later during the wars of the French Revolution, and only re-established in 1949. But local philanthropists have breathed new life into the old walls.
The first acute phase of the pandemic, in March 2020, resulted in a number of tragic deaths in German hospitals and senior citizens’ residences. To prevent new infections all visits from outsiders were prohibited. People died alone. Families were not permitted to see their relatives, and clergy were often not admitted to console the dying.
Stefanie and Ellen Radtke are the Youtube stars of Germany’s Lutheran Church. The two female pastors from Eime, in the state of Lower Saxony, are a same-sex couple. With their Youtube channel "Anders Amen,” which roughly translates as "Different, amen,” they’ve always been controversial ministers. Their aim is to reconcile LGBTQ people and the church.
The history of the Oberammergau Passion Play reaches back to the seventeenth century, when a plague known as the Black Death swept through Europe. In 1633 the residents of this Bavarian village vowed to present a play depicting the suffering and death of Jesus Christ every ten years if they were spared extinction. Oberammergau has kept its word for more than 400 years.
Religions for Peace (RfP) is an association of women representing members of diverse religions in more than 100 countries. This independent organization is committed to mediating in religious conflicts worldwide. RfP will be fifty-years-old in 2020. The endeavors of these women is only now receiving international recognition.
It started half a century ago with a campaign to provide vocational training for young Brazilians. Today the Catholic social services association Kolping International is a worldwide network with some 400,000 members in more than 60 countries.
The Papa Francisco is the best-equipped hospital ship in Brazil’s Amazon Region. She was launched in August 2019. Her mission is to serve more than 1,000 isolated communities along the world’s longest river - villages where there is no hospital and no doctor.
Emissary, pastor and director: Life in the Holy Land is a life full of tension for Wolfgang Schmidt - invigorating, but also exhausting.
Creative Church, a German Lutheran foundation, has produced another musical for mass choirs: Martin Luther King - A Dream Changes the World. In a series of flashbacks the show sketches the life of the great American civil rights leader and Nobel laureate from the perspective of his fellow activists.