The vital role churches played in 1989
In the Church Times, Anglican clergyman Alexander Faludy said the contribution of churches to the events of 1989 is often overlooked.
In East Germany, for instance, political dissatisfaction was channelled by the Protestant Nikolaikirche in Leipzig, which held “Prayers for Peace” on Monday evenings. These prayers implicitly challenged the state’s widespread ‘‘peace propaganda” and the activities of its tame clergy, ‘‘the peace priests’’.
“The church slowly became a discreet gathering place for people, many of them non-religious and disaffected with the regime” – and it was in September 1989 that a gathering spilled over into the adjoining Karl Marx Platz, where eventually 320,000 joined the demonstration. “It was on the streets of Leipzig that the chant Wir sind das Volk began.”
