What's New

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    Many of Berlin's older churches, rebuilt after the Second World War, include elements of modern design. In West Berlin, Modernism came to dominate, even before Vatican II.
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    In Germany, as in many parts of Europe, immigration is disrupting and sometimes reshaping prior senses of cultural identity. In some areas, particularly in the former East Germany, pushback against immigrants has at times been harsh and even violent, though larger numbers of Germans have responded in much more welcoming ways.1 1A good summary of some of these events in East Germany and Berlin is found in the chapter “The New Racism” in Peter Schneider’s Berlin Now trans. Sophie Schlondorff (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux: 2014) pp. 205-211. The German Chancellor spoke against these
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    Catholicism in Berlin is relatively disenchanted, rationalized away from a world of saints who intervene on our behalf, or who should be prayed to, and instead focused primarily on the saints as role models, if that at all.
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    Home to many Christmas traditions such as Christmas trees, craft fairs and fruitcake, Germany keeps the celebrations mostly secular.
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    In general, interviewees described a culture where family is nuclear, small, and the forms and commitments of family life are fluid.
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    The organ remains overwhelmingly the musical instrument of choice, and the singing of traditional hymns is a most important form of worship.
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    Thoroughness and attention to proper detail are said to be important German traits when it comes to any kind of work, and the liturgy is celebrated in the same way.
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    Church and state are connected in interesting ways, but one could never conclude from that that religiosity and religious language pervade political life.
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    Indian churches tend to reflect one of three eras — a Portuguese baroque Jesuit style, a whitewashed French Gothic style from 19th- and 20th-century missionaries, or painted concrete contemporary styles in the postcolonial era.
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    There are now more Melkite Catholics living outside the Middle East than inside. For social, cultural and canonical reasons, these Catholics face particular challenges.