On the 90th anniversary of the Barmen Declaration where members of Germany’s Confessing Church condemned Nazi incursions in church life, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has praised it for helping Christians since then combat oppression and injustice.

“The Barmen Declaration has served as an inspiration to Christians facing tyranny, injustice, and discrimination of the need for the church to reject the claims of oppressive regimes and to combat heretical tendencies within its own ranks,” the Rev Prof Dr Jerry Pillay stated in a message to the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD).

The declaration was issued on the last day of a synod from May 29–31 1934 which met in Barmen, a district of the city of Wuppertal in the Rhineland. It was an appeal to Protestants to reject the policies of the so-called “German Christians” who supported National Socialism and its policies in church life.

“Precisely because we want to be and to remain faithful to our various confessions, we may not keep silent, since we believe that we have been given a common message to utter in a time of common need and temptation,” the synod stated in its declaration.

Pillay, who comes from South Africa, recalled how in his country the Barmen Declaration helped inspire the theological resistance to apartheid. (WCC)