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Louis Berger @ajournomento.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Reposted by Liam Adams

Auf dem Rückflug nach Rom teilt Papst Leo XIV. deutlich gegen AfD et al. aus: „Gleichzeitig gibt es Anzeichen für eine Vermischung dieser rechtsextremen Standpunkte mit einer bestimmten Art von Religion, die – nicht nur meiner Ansicht nach […] – kein authentischer Ausdruck des Christentums ist.“

vaticannews.va

Papst: „Ich hoffe auf einen Besuch in Deutschland“ - Vatican News

Leo XIV. setzt auf einen Besuch in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Das sagte er am Montagabend beim Rückflug von seiner Frankreich-Reise nach Rom zu ...

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Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

With the full results out (thanks again to Konrad Adenauer Stiftung), we now have reports on voting behavior among the religious vs. nonreligious electorate in the two German states where the AfD won on Sept. 6 (Sachsen-Anhalt) and Sept. 20 (Mecklenberg-Vorpommern). Again, striking.

Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Phil Vischer tells @bmietana.bsky.social that Meryl Streep voicing Aslan is "culture war red meat.” In the aftermath of controversy over The Odyssey, Bob gets into the heated debate over Greta Gerwig´s new approach to Narnia. religionnews.com/2026/09/23/m...

Meryl Streep as Narnia's Aslan: Why some evangelicals call it blasphemy

(RNS) — News that Streep will play Aslan in "Narnia: The Magician's Nephew" has sparked casting debates similar to those over "The Odyssey." But for evangelicals, the concerns go deeper than culture w...

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Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"It was an atypical way for any U.S. Senate candidate to spend a Sunday, let alone one running as a Democrat in a state President Donald Trump won by more than 16 points," @jackjenkins.me said about Adam Hamilton´s sermon to 20,000 parishioners on a Sunday. religionnews.com/2026/09/23/h...

How megapastor Adam Hamilton could break the GOP's hold on Kansas

LEAWOOD, Kansas (RNS) — While Democrats have long been considered a longshot for statewide races in Kansas, the Rev. Adam Hamilton's candidacy has proven unexpectedly competitive.

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Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A 2024 California law and new lawsuits that arose have raised deeper questions of whether Holocaust survivors are entitled to artwork seized by the Nazis. The Auschwitz Memorial said certain watercolors "must remain," @reporterdeepa.bsky.social reports: apnews.com/article/holo...

apnews.com

New laws trigger a fresh legal fight over Nazi-looted art in Los Angeles and Auschwitz museums

Jewish heirs of Holocaust victims have filed lawsuits in California to reclaim Nazi-looted paintings from museums in Los Angeles and Poland.

Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Georgia Meloni vowed to ban the wearing of burqas and niqabs in schools, a similar proposal to a new law in Austria that just went into effect with the beginning of the school year. An @apnews.com report on why it´s politically beneficial for the Italian PM: apnews.com/article/ital...

apnews.com

Meloni plans to ban burqas and niqabs in Italian schools, and cap foreign students in classrooms

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she’ll soon introduce a measure to her government that would cap the number of foreign students in classrooms and ban face burqas and niqabs in schools.

SPD liegt unter Christen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern vor der AfD

The AfD earned 31% of the Protestant/Catholic vote in Mecklenberg-Verpommern, almost exactly the voting breakdown in Sachsen-Anhalt a couple weeks prior. Catholic News Agency on an exit polling analysis: katholisch.de/artikel/7042...

katholisch.de

Wahlverhalten bei Landtagswahl

The Fuel That Feeds Europe’s Far Right: Nostalgia and Lost Pride (Gift Article)

@stevenerlanger.bsky.social´s latest for NYT looks at the AfD´s success in Sachsen-Anhalt & Mecklenberg-Vorpommern and how religion and nostalgia are fueling the right´s ascent in Germany, France and the U.S. With interviews with Tillschneider and Steffen Mau: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/21/w...

nytimes.com

The populist emphasis on national identity and threats to it, real and imagined, finds a deep response in voters adrift in a world they no longer understand.

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Pope Leo XIV in France will find a secular country at odds with Catholic teaching on life

In previewing the pope´s upcoming visit to France, Nicole Winfield @apnews.com looks at how the country ´s constitutional protection for abortion and its bump in baptisms amid a strict separation of church and state dating back to 1905 will affect Leo´s summit. apnews.com/article/pope...

apnews.com

Pope Leo XIV opens a four-day visit to France this weekend that is expected to touch on church teaching about the value of all human life.

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Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Wondrous walk to the Wartburg amid an extraordinary visit with friends in Eisenach.

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ICYMI: A progressive movement modeled on Mamdani´s DSA campaign in New York succeeded last night in Berlin elections, when Die Linke (The Left) earned its best ever election results in the Berlin state elections with 25.7% of the vote. www.zeit.de/politik/deut...

Wahl in Berlin: Linke gewinnt laut vorläufigem Endergebnis Berlin-Wahl vor der CDU

Die Linke hat bei der Wahl zum Berliner Abgeordnetenhaus ihr historisch bestes Ergebnis erzielt. Dahinter folgt die CDU. Das BSW scheitert an der Fünf-Prozent-Hürde.

Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

ICYMI: 2 weeks after the AfD´s historic election in Sachsen-Anhalt, the far-right party yet again won elections last night in Mecklenberg-Vorpommern in a another historic event that pushed out the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from the state parliament. www.zeit.de/politik/deut...

Vorläufiges Endergebnis: AfD gewinnt Landtagswahl in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern holt die AfD mehr als 38 Prozent der Stimmen, die SPD 35,5 Prozent. Linke und Grüne schaffen es in den Landtag, CDU und BSW sind raus.

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Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

After the PCA´s top court upheld charges against Burk Parsons, Ligonier Ministries editor and pastor of St. Andrew´s Chapel, for being harsh and domineering, Parsons has officially left the conservative evangelical denomination, @danielsilliman.bsky.social reports: roysreport.com/pastor-burk-...

roysreport.com

Pastor Burk Parsons leaves PCA, following Florida congregation out of denomination | The Roys Report

Burk Parsons resigned from the PCA days after its highest court upheld findings that he was harsh and domineering.

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Reposted by Liam Adams

Daniel Silliman @danielsilliman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Helen Boerman, a leader at Remnant Fellowship — the Tennessee church behind the Weigh Down diet program — billed Medicare for supplies she never gave patients and appointments that never happened. The take: nearly $7 million.

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Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

For "Complexified," a weekly podcast from @rns.org, I sit down with host Amanda Henderson to discuss the AfD´s historic win in Sacshen-Anhalt and what it says about churches´influence here in Germany. Based on my 3 stories for RNS from my fellowship here... religionnews.com/2026/09/16/b...

Bratwurst and Beer: How the Far Right Replaced Germany's Churches

In one German state, a far-right party has learned to do the one thing churches used to do better than anyone: throw a party people want to come to.

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Christfluencers´ content strategy mirrors that of popular influencers like Allie Beth Stuckey or the late Charlie Kirk, whereas Tobias Riemenschneider has previously teamed up with Doug Wilson. My latest for @rns.org on the U.S./German religious right overlap: religionnews.com/2026/09/15/i...

In Germany, right-wing ‘Christfluencers’ hope to follow the US religious right

(RNS) — Radicalized by COVID-19 and anger over immigration, right-wing pastors like Tobias Riemenschneider in Germany hope to gain followers by promoting conservative Christian views and politics. The...

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In the aftermath of the far-right AfD´s historic election win on September 6, I take a closer look at a unique alliance between the AfD and right-wing Christian influencers ("Christfluencers") and what it says about church-state relations. For @rns.org: religionnews.com/2026/09/15/i...

In Germany, right-wing ‘Christfluencers’ hope to follow the US religious right

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NEW: Tobias Riemenschneider, whose public support for the far-right AfD led to his ouster from a church he co-founded, now leads a church of no more than 50. But his anti-Muslim, anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric online has garnered 150,000+ followers. For @rns.org: religionnews.com/2026/09/15/i...

In Germany, right-wing ‘Christfluencers’ hope to follow the US religious right

Though church-state relations and the religious right’s prowess in Germany differs greatly from the U.S., Riemenschneider and a wave of right-wing Christian influencers, or “Christfluencers,” are bridging that gap. My third story for @rns.org from Germany: religionnews.com/2026/09/15/i...

In Germany, right-wing ‘Christfluencers’ hope to follow the US religious right

Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Al Mohler argued at an event with Doug Wilson that the Constitution should make it clear that American culture, law and morals should be based on Christianity. The SBC leader walked back some of his comments after backlash, @bmietana.bsky.social reports: religionnews.com/2026/09/14/a...

Al Mohler reverses course, rejects blasphemy laws after controversy

(RNS) — The longtime president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said he erred in saying the government should be able to punish those who don’t believe God was part of America’s founding.

Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

A major visit by Pope Leo XIV to France comes as 8 dioceses surrounding Paris are convening a yearlong provincial assembly on how the church should welcome, form and retain the growing number of catechumens. @clairegiangrave.bsky.social on Catholicism in France rn: religionnews.com/2026/09/14/a...

As Pope Leo prepares to visit France, can its 'Catholic moment’ become a lasting revival?

(RNS) — Record numbers of young people are seeking baptism in France. As Pope Leo arrives to greet 80,000 of them later this month, the country's diminished Catholic Church is faced with the challenge...

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Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Hot take: The absence of religion can be important religion news. Case in point, my latest @rns.org report on the AfD´s rise in the former GDR state of Saxony-Anhalt: religionnews.com/2026/09/10/d... (But there´s a lot of religion in this story, too).

What the AfD’s victory means for German churches’ influence

WITTENBERG, Germany (RNS) — The Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) Party scored a pivotal victory for the far-right in Germany, an outcome churches fiercely fought to prevent. Their inability to stop i...

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Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

For @zeit.de print this week, one of Germany's leading chroniclers of conservatism in the U.S. looks at religion, conspiracy theories, and martyrdom a year after Kirk's death and interviews Erika Kirk's priest and Rod Dreher. From Kerstin Kohlenberg: www.zeit.de/2026/39/erik...

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In communities where the church is weakened and access to information is atomized, the far-right thrives. In Saxony-Anhalt, one of the most irreligious parts of Germany, the AfD's lead candidate is a TikTok star. Why Sunday was so significant, for @rns.org: religionnews.com/2026/09/10/d...

What the AfD’s victory means for German churches’ influence

WITTENBERG, Germany (RNS) — The Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party scored a pivotal victory for the far-right in Germany, an outcome churches fiercely fought to prevent. Their inability to stop i...

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The AfD's "focus on community, this focus on belonging is trying to provide a replacement for the church," Tobias Cremer told me after Sunday. His book, "The Godless Crusade" on religion & populism in Germany, U.S. was key in my early research. For @rns.org: religionnews.com/2026/09/10/d...

What the AfD’s victory means for German churches’ influence

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New: When I started planning for this fellowship, I had this image of visiting a church in Wittenberg and finding a moment to connect the Protestant Reformation with the current upheaval in Germany due to the AfD. See what I found in my latest for @rns.org: religionnews.com/2026/09/10/d...

What the AfD’s victory means for German churches’ influence

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NEW: Conflict between churches and the AfD in advance of Sunday's momentous election was a test of just how much faith communities are a check against the far-right's ascent in Germany. The outcome in Saxony-Anhalt was telling. My second report for @rns.org: religionnews.com/2026/09/10/d...

What the AfD’s victory means for German churches’ influence

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„Zeit“ stellt Sonderseiten „Christ & Welt“ ein

DIE ZEIT will discontinue its "Christ & Welt" special section on October 22. It began after @zeit.de acquired the weekly Catholic newspaper "Rheinischer Merkur" brand in 2010. But religion news will continue to appear in ZEIT´s "Faith and Doubt" page. www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

faz.net

Die „Zeit“ stellt die Seiten „Christ & Welt“ ein. Was einst eine eigene evangelisch-konservative Zeitung war, dann zur Beilage wurde, verschwindet. Die Themen finden sich nun auf den Seiten „Glauben u...

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Nonreligious voters in Saxony-Anhalt supported the AfD at a higher rate than that of Catholics and Protestants in Sunday´s election. After striving for days to get ahold of this data (without having to pay for it), I´m relieved to find it in a new KAS report: www.kas.de/documents/25...

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At the same time mosques are growing in the U.S., they are also facing more harassment. The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has been an example of this reoccurring hostility, reports @ulaakuzi.bsky.social and @bmietana.bsky.social amid the 25th anniversary of 9/11: religionnews.com/2026/09/09/t...

Mosques have more than doubled since 9/11. But Muslims say opposition is fierce.

(RNS) — New mosques often stir up local resistance and anti-Muslim sentiment. Even when they get built, the blowback can be intense.

Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

“Die AfD ist nachweislich nationalistisch und völkisch eingestellt. Für dieses völkische Gedankengut ist weder in noch außerhalb von Gotteshäusern...” Bishop Heiner Wilmer, Germany’s top Catholic official, rebukes the AfD in a major speech tonight after Sunday’s election.

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Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

With so many newsy moments for Saxony-Anhalt churches due to the AfD’s win in Sunday’s election, the remains of Emperor Otto the Great were reinterred in Magdeburg Cathedral. @rbingener.bsky.social chronicles how that event is tied to the present political upheaval. www.faz.net/aktuell/poli...

faz.net

Sachsen-Anhalt-Wahl 2026: Der Kampf um große Figuren deutscher Geschichte

Kaiser Otto, Luther, Bismarck: In Sachsen-Anhalt trifft man auf große Figuren der deutschen Geschichte. Manche wollen sie nicht mehr historisch-kritisch betrachten, sondern setzen auf die Kraft des My...

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Liam Adams @liamsadams.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Though chaotic, what an eventful time in Germany for the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship 2026 class. Here’s some our coverage of the Saxony-Anhalt election and the AfD’s historic performance. First, from Ashley Southall for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/w...

nytimes.com

Germany’s Far Right Just Misses Majority in Crucial State Election

The Alternative for Germany, or AfD, trounced its rivals but was left unsure if it will be able to govern in Saxony-Anhalt. The result shocked Germany.

Ehrenamt in der Kirche: Partner kandidiert für AfD in Wardenburg – Mitarbeit einer 69-Jährigen nicht länger erwünscht

In yet another case of churches´anti-AfD standards for parishioners and employees of church-affiliated organizations, a Protestant church near Oldenburg asked a woman to resign from volunteer roles because her partner is an AfD candidate in a local race. www.nwzonline.de/oldenburg-kr...

nwzonline.de

Marlene P. aus Hundsmühlen engagierte sich jahrelang ehrenamtlich in der evangelischen Kirchengemeinde. Weil ihr Lebensgefährte für die AfD kandidiert, sollte sie ihre Ämter aufgeben. Daraufhin zog si...

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Reposted by Liam Adams

Christoph Strack @strackchristoph.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Der Münchner Kardinal Reinhard Marx hat den Wahlsieg der AfD in Sachsen-Anhalt, einer „gesichert rechtsextremistischen Partei“, als „furchtbar und niederdrückend" bewertet.

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Faith leaders in Germany at the national and regional levels are reacting to the AfD´s success in Saxony-Anhalt. Many of these religious groups advocated against the AfD prior to the election Sunday (religionnews.com/2026/09/03/a...). A roundup (translated into English)...

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Germany´s top church leaders, namely chairs of the EKD Council (Protestant) and German Bishops’ Conference (Catholic), address the AfD´s victory in a joint statement. "Our worst fears have come true, but the result must be accepted." (Per translated version).

Christoph Strack @strackchristoph.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Reposted by Liam Adams

„Wir fordern die Wahlsieger auf, die Landesverfassung sowie das Grundgesetz uneingeschränkt zu achten und die Würde aller Menschen unabhängig von Herkunft,Religion, Lebensweise,Leistung oder Position zu wahren.“ Die Repräsentanten von EKD, DBK und ACK zum Ausgang der Landtagswahl in Sachsen-Anhalt:

dbk.de

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My latest for @zeit.de looks at how the AfD´s threats against church asylum in Saxony-Anhalt is personally affecting refugees who are living on church property and larger uncertainty about the sustainability of a ministry that began in Germany in 1983. www.zeit.de/politik/deut...

Kirchenasyl in Sachsen-Anhalt: Noch sind sie geschützt

Auch in Sachsen-Anhalt beherbergen Gemeinden Geflüchtete im Kirchenasyl. Doch nicht nur eine drohende AfD-Regierung macht dessen Status immer prekärer.

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Folgt man seinen Befürwortern, ist die Drohung der AfD, das Kirchenasyl grundsätzlich auszuhebeln, lediglich eine extreme Form dessen, was sich ohnehin längst unter Spitzenpolitikern auch diesseits der extremen Rechten Bahn bricht. www.zeit.de/politik/deut...

Kirchenasyl in Sachsen-Anhalt: Noch sind sie geschützt

Auch in Sachsen-Anhalt beherbergen Gemeinden Geflüchtete im Kirchenasyl. Doch nicht nur eine drohende AfD-Regierung macht dessen Status immer prekärer.

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Church history in Saxony-Anhalt, one of the most irreligious parts of Germany, is almost too vast to capture in one article. But @zeit.de religion editor Evelyn Finger, who´s from the area, did an amazing job in this religion + politics piece from Sat: www.zeit.de/2026/38/afd-...

AfD und Kirche in Sachsen-Anhalt: Sie wollen die Wende kapern

Die AfD behauptet: »Wir sind das Volk« – und eignet sich auch andere Slogans der friedlichen Revolution an. Wie konnte das passieren? Wir haben Christen im Osten gefragt.

The AfD´s performance in Saxony-Anhalt presents an identity crisis for the CDU and the underlying system of Christian Democracy. @georgloewisch.bsky.social reexamines the roots of Christian Democracy after WWII and how its application has changed over time. www.zeit.de/politik/deut...