Several Christian churches are involved in the Dialogue of Religions in Aachen, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Evangelical Regional Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Vineyard Community and churches from the migrant community. Together with the other members of the Dialogue of Religions, they strive to get to know each other and are committed to good and tolerant coexistence in society.
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Lord's Prayer is the basic prayer that is particularly precious to us Christians because Jesus himself taught his disciples to pray it.
Christianity came to our region in Roman times.
Today, around 124,000 Roman Catholics, around 32,000 Protestant Christians and around 5,000 Christians who belong to other Christian churches/communities live in the city of Aachen.
In the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen Aachen (ACK) "the churches and church communities of this area ... are united, which confess the one Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the Holy Scriptures and strive to fulfill his mission through word and witness for the glory of the triune God and for the salvation of the people of our time." (From the statutes of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen Aachen)
Membership of the Christian church is established through baptism. It is a sacrament that goes back to Jesus' command. The baptizer pours water over the person being baptized and says: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".
The creed, which was formulated by the first two general councils of Nicea (325) and Constantinople (381), is common to all the great churches of the East and the West.
"We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, who created all things, heaven and earth, the visible and invisible worlds. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all time: God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father; through him all things were created. For us human beings and for our salvation he came down from heaven, took on flesh through the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary and became man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried, rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of the Father and will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; there will be no end to his reign. We believe in the Holy Spirit, who is Lord and gives life, who proceeds from the Father*, who is worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son, who spoke through the prophets, and the one, holy, catholic** and apostolic Church. We confess the one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."
(*) Since the Middle Ages, the churches of the Western tradition have added: "and the Son".
(**) This is meant in the original sense of the word, as all-encompassing, spanning the globe, not in the denominational sense. In some churches one says here "Christian" or "universal Christian".
The Roman Catholic Church has around 135,000 members in the city of Aachen. The cathedral is the episcopal church of the diocese of Aachen and is also the landmark of the Catholic Church in Aachen. In addition, there are many other places of church life in our region, namely wherever Christians try to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ together. The Church is sent to bear witness to the Gospel, to celebrate faith and to make the closeness and care of God tangible for people. This task is carried out by full-time and volunteer staff in the parishes, in the categorical services, in the facilities and counseling centers.
If you would like to find out more about the life and services of the Catholic Church in Aachen, please click here.
The parish of St. Joseph and Corpus Christi and the Croatian Catholic Mission are also involved in the Dialogue of Religions in Aachen.
The parish is looked after by eleven pastors and a large number of employees, including many volunteers.
There are ten churches in Aachen; the oldest church, the Annakirche, has been a place of worship for 200 years. Historically born out of the Reformation, the Protestant church today runs schools, kindergartens, retirement homes, diaconia, ecumenism, education and counseling.
Offers:
Many pastoral and diaconal services in the city of Aachen are organized together with the Catholic Church, i.e. ecumenically. Examples include: telephone pastoral care, emergency pastoral care, city pastoral care, etc.
Ecumenical cooperation in the Association of Christian Churches (ACK) and in the Dialogue of Religions.
The Christliche Internationale Liga Aachen e. V. and the Yehyang Evangelical Korean Community are involved in the Dialogue of Religions in Aachen.
The Christian International League has been in Aachen since its foundation on October 24, 1994 and belongs to the nationwide Pentecostal churches. It has around 200 members from Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Togo and other countries.
activities of the municipality:
The community offers regular consultations and events on various social and cultural topics for interested Aachen residents and members of the community.
The Orthodox Church was founded in the first century by our Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, the Hypostasis of the Trinity God. The Church was founded to save the souls of people who believe in Him and follow His commandments. For the establishment/confirmation of faith, the Lord chose and ordained the Apostles, who recorded His words in the Gospel and spread His teaching throughout the world. All believers also live their lives according to the Gospel as they await His return at the end of time.
Christ, according to His promise, is always with us in the sacraments of the Church. The Church is made up of congregations of believers who gather together to celebrate the sacrament of the Eucharist. The parishes are led by the bishops or by their appointed pastors.
The bishops are the direct heirs of the apostles and of Christ, who have received the grace and power to perform sacraments through legitimate ordination. The continuity and succession of ordination can be traced back to the apostles.
We believe in a Trinity of God, not in three gods, but in one God who has opened Himself to human beings through personal contact in the three hypostasies - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator of the world, the Judge of the world and its Provident, who leads people to salvation and eternal life through His providence, but does not violate people's free choice between good and evil.
At the end of all time, God's judgment awaits every human being, followed by resurrection and eternal life or eternal death.
Our faith is expressed in the Creed. The Orthodox Church believes that it preserves intact the faith of the Apostles. We recognize as Christians all those who have been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and who believe in the Trinity of God. The characteristic that unites all Christians, e.g. Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox, is their Christ-centered faith and one Gospel.
The closest denomination to us is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept that it is the successor of the apostles and that its sacraments are true. Our positions are also the same in the social and moral sphere. We fight together against sin in the world. Until the 11th century we were one church, but because of some dogmatic and administrative divergences the division happened. In the last 50 years, real steps have been taken to overcome this tragic division. Dialogues between theologians take place regularly.
The Orthodox religion in Aachen has had its history since 1813, when the Orthodox liturgy was held for the first time in Aachen Cathedral with the participation of the Russian Tsar Alexander I, the victor over Napoleon.