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Religion

Death is Part of Life – A Lutheran’s Quest for Meaning

February 2, 2019

The Lutheran pastor Nikolaus Schneider held the highest office in the Evangelical Church in Germany, but his life has often been clouded by death. Aged 22, his daughter, Meike, died of leukemia. He preached at the memorial service for the victims of the crowd disaster at the 2010 Love Parade in Duisburg. Then his wife was diagnosed with cancer.

https://p.dw.com/p/3CbWH

Nikolaus Schneider and his wife, Anne, are Lutheran theologians who have wrestled with questions of life and death all their lives. When Anne Schneider was diagnosed with cancer, her husband resigned from his position as chairman of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). She survived the disease. Since then, the Schneiders have talked openly about their experiences of despair and religious doubt when a loved one dies. In discussion and at public events they proclaim their message: death is part of Life.