Protestant Reformed Church of Luxembourg HB

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The Protestant Reformed Church of Luxembourg HB ( Helvetic Confession ) is the second officially recognized Protestant church in the Catholic Grand Duchy of Luxembourg . It has roots in common with the older Protestant Church in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , which is officially united but has a more Lutheran orientation in cult , which are conditioned by the history of the country, but increasingly went separate ways after the First World War . There are also national-language communities at the institutions of the European Community .

history

Until the French era , members of other religions could only settle in the capital to a very limited extent. Religious freedom was only proclaimed with the invasion of the French Revolutionary Army . There was a sustained influx of Protestants after 1815 during the following reign of the Protestant William I of Orange-Nassau from the Dutch house of Orange-Nassau and when Luxembourg became a federal fortress with a Prussian garrison . This was 1817, next to the Cathedral of Our Lady located Trinity Church left as a garrison church. Court preachers and garrison pastors were now doing their service in the capital. After the federal troops withdrew in 1867, the first small local parishes were founded.

Only with the beginning of industrialization , especially in the area of ​​the southern canton of Esch near the industrial area of Lorraine , did more Reformed believers come to the country, so that a branch ( vicariate ) of the community was formed there. In 1885 there were already 1,100 Protestants in the Grand Duchy, whom the state recognized as a church through a statute issued by Grand Duke Adolph I in 1894. After his son Wilhelm married a Catholic, the strong ties to the ruling house were lost for the time being. With his daughters Maria-Adelheid and her sister Charlotte , the ruling house became Catholic again. However, there has always been and to this day a special benevolent interest in the Protestant community in Luxembourg. In addition, there were political problems that made it impossible for the government to adapt the statute to the growing demands made by the industrial community in Esch. Care for the Escher was organized by the German pastors requested by them without the express approval (and funding) of the old church. This led to problems, particularly during the Nazi era in Germany and the Second World War , when the elected pastors turned out to be Nazis . The last left “on September 1, 1944 with the brown hordes without saying goodbye and retired to Germany. At that time, some members of the community also preferred to settle east of the Moselle ”.

After the Second World War, the Anexgemeinde Esch demanded more independence and in particular the consideration of its reformed orientation, which was not possible according to the existing legal regulation, and which could not be changed in parliament for a long time. It was not until November 23, 1982 that an agreement was reached on the recognition of the Protestant Reformed Church based in Esch / Alzette .

organization

The church is governed by a consistory under the pastor as president. Men and women can be ordained in the Church .

Ecumenism and Memberships

The Protestant Reformed Church of Luxembourg HB is a member of the Conference of European Churches (KEK) and of the Community of Evangelical Churches in Europe (CPCE). She is co-founder of the Council of Christian Churches in Luxembourg (1997). The Protestant Reformed Church of Luxembourg HB is also a member of the World Community of Reformed Churches (WRF) and of the Reformed Federation (RB). From 1997 to 2011 she was also a member of the Alliance of Protestant Churches in Luxembourg.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lötsch, p. 36
  2. ↑ Lötsch, p. 37
  3. ↑ Lötsch, p. 39
  4. ^ Reformed in Luxembourg. Retrieved on February 28, 2013 (German).

Web links