The bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover in Germany has issued a strong plea to give the upcoming jubilee of the Reformation a clear emphasis on common Christian witness.

A German church has far exceeded its initial expectations in so far distributing more than 200,000 black bracelets intended as a symbolic protest against human rights abuses in China during the Olympic Games in Beijing.

German Lutheran Bishop Margot Kaessmann has urged the authorities in her coutry to enter into a dialogue with imprisoned members of the Red Army Faction terrorist group which operated in Germany from the 1970s - reports Ecumenical News International (ENI).