Dear friends!

The summer is here and with it time for our “Summer Letter for Europe” which summarises last year’s letters for you. Maybe you overlooked one of them or maybe you will find it helpful to reread one of our short and essential Christian explanatory texts. Below you will find short abstracts of the letters directly linked.

The Letters for Europe are not meant to be daily news. Instead, they pick up topics that serve our daily discussions as a basis. They shed light on exactly those issues that concern today’s Christian in Europe most.

Every Letter is thoroughly planned and pondered; what topic is needed, which author could write well about it, and how can it be presented in a comprehensive manner.

We hope that this service is of help to you!

Your Europe for Christ! Team

 

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Letters for Europe 2009/10

Find all letters so far in our archive.

 

Letter for Europe 53: "Martin Luther King's Dream Today - Thoughts by his Niece"

Dr. Alveda King gives a speech in the European Parliament describing her experiences in a changing America and how important dedication and persistence is to change the mindset of a whole nation. She compares the situation of the unborn children today with the blacks in America not so long ago and calls for a rethinking in a society which has been looking away for too long.

 

Letter for Europe 52: "The Seven Habits of a Happy Marriage"

The turning of water into wine at the wedding of Cana shows that God wants humans to cooperate in his acts. Fr. Johannes Lechner csj exemplifies the most important habits needed for a successful marriage giving practical hints.

 

Letter for Europe 51: "Real Christian faith is always personal, but it’s never private"

Archbishop Charles Chaput from the diocese of Denver speaks about every Christian’s vocation to speaking up in public life. A special focus is on the lay persons whose task it is to get involved in society and politics. Each Christian as a single person and the Church as community of believers should see politics as a commitment before God to proof our love by deeds, not just in our personal life and in family, but also in public and political life.

 

Letter for Europe 50: "Thoughts on the Child Abuse Scandals in the Catholic Church"

Due to current events we have collected important considerate statements on child abuse by members of the Churches.

 

Letter for Europe 49: "Freedom of Speech or Freedom from Hearing?"

Mats Tunehag writes on the freedom of speech as a basic right and therefore necessary to other rights and freedoms. But how is a democracy to deal with difficult cases like religious caricatures, critical statements on homosexuality followed by attacks on freedom of speech?

 

Letter for Europe 48: "There is no right to abortion"

Dr. Gudrun Kugler describes in short sentences the main points in the current European discussion on a so-called right to abortion giving practical help in debates: “A right to abortion harms human rights, people, equality, and it destroys peace and the rule of law.”

 

Letter for Europe 47: "Culture War 2.0 and the Manhattan Declaration"

The German theologian Thomas Schirrmacher sheds light on the sensational Manhattan Declaration by different Christian denominations in the US which addresses the sanctity of human life, the fundamental role of marriage and family for society. He puts special focus on the past and present culture wars going on in Europe: “Abortion, bioethics, sexuality, marriage, family, gender mainstreaming – the list of topics used to try and force the church to think and act like the ‘published’ opinion gets longer all the time. Christians are supposed to no longer consider as wrong that what others do...”

 

Letter for Europe 46: "Ten Reasons Against Adoption Rights for Homosexual Couples"

Pediatrician Christl R. Vonholdt summarizes the reasons against adoption rights for homosexual couples from the viewpoint of the child. The child is not only betrayed in understanding his or her origin from two sexes, he or she is also disadvantaged in its development due to missing diversity of sexes and exposed to a statistically higher promiscuity of homosexual parents. There are no reliable studies on the wellbeing of the child in homosexual relationships.

 

Letter for Europe 45: "12 Theses on Displaying the Cross in Public Spaces"

The cross in public places is under debate – read in this Letter for Europe twelve arguments on why the cross should not be taken down. Find attached a comment by Martin Kugler on the cross as “Europe’s logo”. And why is the presumption wrong that a state freed of religious symbols be any more tolerant?

 

Letter for Europe 44: "Why Are You Only a Spectator?"

Kizito Chinedu Nweke, a seminarian from Nigeria, is appalled by the growing anti-Christian climate in Europe and surprised to see the passivity of Christians letting this happen. “Why does one decide to simply watch how precious traditions are being destroyed instead of arguing, defending and proclaiming the truth?” he asks himself and calls on the European Christians to wake up, read, write, speak up and pray.

 

Letter for Europe 43: "Christians in the Net: Working with Wikipedia"

Internet expert Adriane F. Clement shows the necessity of Christian involvement in times of internet and electronic networks. She lists practical hints and concrete steps in creating a user account helping to fend off systematic revilement of publically engaged Christians.