[World Council of Churches] On the 80th anniversary of the execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer for his opposition to Hitler, the moderator of the World Council of Churches has paid tribute to the deep faith of the German theologian, saying his life and witness continue to inspire the ecumenical movement.
“The South African resistance against apartheid, for example, was decisively influenced by him. Latin American liberation theology has also repeatedly appealed to him,” said WCC moderator Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. He was speaking on April 7 at an event at the former concentration camp of Flossenbürg in Bavaria where Bonhoeffer and other opponents of Hitler were hanged in the early hours of April 9, 1945.
“Central elements of Bonhoeffer’s theology are of significant importance for ecumenical public theology today,” said Bedford-Strohm, mentioning the environmental crisis, bringing an end to violence in Ukraine, and overcoming nationalism and xenophobia.
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