Clad in white at a Berlin church, asylum seekers Saeed, Veronica, Farida and Matin were just about to become Christians on a recent Sunday.
“Do you believe from the bottom of your heart that Jesus Christ is your Lord and savior, and will you follow him every day of your life?” Matthias Linke, the pastor, asked them. “If so, say yes.”
All four replied with a frank “Ja,” to the applause of the congregation at the Free Evangelical Church and were plunged head-to-toe into a baptism basin.
“I am very, very happy, I feel ... how to say?” said 20-year-old Iran native Matin right after his baptism, placing his hand on his chest.
Muslim refugees have recently been taking the same step throughout Germany, where nearly 900,000 asylum seekers arrived last year. Church leaders have confirmed a notable, though not huge, trend upward, but have not provided statistics.
“In our diocese, there are several groups of refugees who are preparing for baptism, and there are more and more requests,” said Felix Goldinger, a Catholic priest in Speyer, southwestern Germany.
Many come from Iran and Afghanistan, some from Syria or Eritrea, he said.
“I am currently handling a group of 20 people, but I do not know how many will go through until baptism,” he told reporters.
Over the course of their preparations, which last nearly a year in Goldinger’s diocese, potential converts are encouraged to weigh their own motivations.
“During this period, it is important that they examine their original religion, Islam, and the reasons why they want to change it,” he said. “We are obviously pleased that people want to be baptized, but it is very important for us that they are sure of their decision.”
Goldinger said that “many people recall what they have experienced in their country,” including “terrorist acts committed in the name of religion. They see Christianity as a religion of love and respect for life.”
In Iran many had been in contact with unrecognized churches in the Islamic republic, where conversion is prohibited, and then had to flee, Linke said.
Other refugees met Christians on their journey to Europe.
This was the case for Saeed, a 31-year-old aeronautical engineer who spent four months in Turkey with a Christian and then became interested in his religion.
Like fellow new convert Veronica, Saeed is from Afghanistan.
Reading the Bible “helped in times of trouble,” he says.
Matin said that it was in Greece that he first came in touch with the Christian faith.
After he arrived in Germany, he approached the Free Evangelical Church through his German friends.
His sister Farida followed him and they began preparations — in German and Farsi — for baptism.
Farida said she “was looking for a church” and wanted to choose her religion “in complete freedom.”
“This is a very important reason to become a Christian,” Linke said.
Among refugees who adopt Germany’s dominant religion “there is a strong desire to decide for themselves, in a free and personal way, the direction of their lives,” he said.
Churches say that some conversions are motivated by a desire to integrate into German society, or even by the belief that they will increase their chances of gaining political asylum.
Countries that send Muslim converts to Christianity back to their homelands put them potentially at great risk.
Apostasy or blasphemy can be punished with jail or death sentences in some Muslim countries, among them Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, while for militant groups such as the Islamic State conversion is also a punishable sin.
“There are refugees who think that if they convert, it will be easier for them to stay here, but it is not systematic,” Goldinger said.
“Do they change religion in order to be able to stay in Germany? This is an important issue for the authorities,” said Linke, who is often consulted by the German Office for Migration and Refugees.
“I have no guarantees, I can only ask them: ‘Do you really believe with all your heart?’ After their baptism, most of them live as Christians and come to church,” he added.
Outside their new community, the converts nonetheless usually try to remain discreet.
“They may face difficult situations in refugee homes, where the majority are Muslims,” said Thomas Klammt, in charge of migration issues at the Union of Free German Evangelical Churches. “They may also be afraid for their families left behind in their country of origin.”
Matin said he stays in contact with relatives back home — especially his mother, who had “accepted” his willingness to convert.
“She calls me every Sunday to ask if I have been to Mass,” he said, laughing.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
At a calligraphy class in Hanoi, Hoang Thi Thanh Huyen slides her brush across the page to form the letters and tonal marks of Vietnam’s unique modern script, in part a legacy of French colonial rule. The history of romanized Vietnamese, or Quoc Ngu, links the arrival of the first Christian missionaries, colonization by the French and the rise to power of the Communist Party of Vietnam. It is now reflected in the country’s “bamboo diplomacy” approach of seeking strength through flexibility, or looking to stay on good terms with the world’s major powers. A month after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) visited,
RSS