Bishop Margot Kässmann, the first woman to lead the Protestant church in Germany, has pledged to work to promote Christian unity and action for justice and peace.

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.

Church leaders and journalists have little idea of the pressures that each other face, according to German Lutheran Bishop Margot Kässmann, who has called for a new understanding.