Word: dibeliuses
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...choosing Scharf to succeed crusty Bishop Otto Dibelius last February as head of the Evangelical Church, the synod bore in mind his reputation for dealing with the Reds in a way that won their grudging respect. Said one top Communist official: "Give me Scharf rather than any other churchman. At least I understand what he wants." And in office Kurt Scharf has been uniquely free to attend church meetings across the border-even on occasion to go abroad, as he did for the enthronement of Dr. Arthur Michael Ramsey as Archbishop of Canterbury...
...Guilt. Legality was only part of the worrying. West Germany displays visible distress at the prospect of another raking up of Nazi atrocities. Sighed Konrad Adenauer: "There's nothing to do but wait and see-and try to live through it." West Berlin's Evangelical Bishop Otto Dibelius, who has himself been accused of anti-Semitism during the Hitler era-declared in a radio address: "The whole world will say, 'That is the way Germans are.' We will not be able to answer, It was only a handful of Germans who in their insanity forgot...
...through it all-sometimes striking back, sometimes rolling with the punches -Dibelius and E.K.D.* struggled to maintain a sense of unity among its 40 million Protestants. Thundering against Communist oppression from the East Berlin pulpit of the famed Marienkirche, Dibelius was a rallying point for German Protestantism...
Last week, at 80, Dibelius prepared to retire, and at his farewell appearance before the synod of his church, he once again stressed unity: "The most important thing is that we regard ourselves as one." The delegates took heed in deciding the delicate question before them: whom to elect as his successor...
...Slap or a Tickle. Some of Dibelius' extremism had embarrassed his colleagues - as when he announced that as a Christian he did not feel obligated to obey even the speed laws of the godless East German regime - and there were many who felt that his intransigence made life still harder for E.K.D. pastors under Communist control. The question before the synod: Should the delegates vote to continue Dibelius' policies by electing his deputy, Bishop Hanns Lilje, 61, an able preacher and administrator whose name is anathema to the Communists? Or should they find a candidate less provocative...