| Bradford remembers Bonhoeffer... | The forum on racial intolerance is at the University of Bradford's Richmond Building at 6.30 on Wednesday March 29, 2006. The event is free and places can be booked by 'phoning Lisa Cumming on 01274-234173. A service is to be held at Bradford Cathedral on April 9 at 6.30pm to celebrate Bonhoeffer's life and on April 23 there will be a Holocaust Commemoration at 12noon organised by Bradford TUC. |
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed just weeks before the end of World War Two for his involvement in a plot to overthrow Hitler. But, during his lifetime, Bonhoeffer was no stranger to West Yorkshire. Bonhoeffer was opposed to Nazism and to anti-semitism and in November 1933 he came to Bradford to attend a conference of members of the clergy who had ended up in Britain. This resulted in The Bradford Declaration, a protest against the Nazification of the church in Germany. Canon Sam Randall, Bradford Diocese's Bishop's Officer for Church in the World, who is organising a series of events in Bradford to celebrate the life and work of Bonhoeffer, says: "Although there may be few similarities between 1930s Germany and Bradford today, racism remains a pernicious presence. Political and religiously motivated groups continue to espouse racial or religious ideologies of denigration, hate and intolerance. Such ideologies and attitudes need to be challenged and we can take inspiration from Bonhoeffer's life and work."
 | | Bradford's German Protestant Church |
The forum, 'Religion, Intolerance and Resistance (Religion and Hate, Lessons from History)' is taking place at the University of Bradford on March 29th. Lisa Cumming, from the University's Programme for a Peaceful City, organisers of the event, says: "We will commemorate the work and the sacrifice made by Dietrich Bonhoeffer who stood up to Nazi oppressions and was executed 60 years ago. We will also hear from three religious commentators who will give people a chance to reflect on difficulties they recognise within their own faith or belief system, and explore opportunities for tolerance between intercultural relationships in the modern world." The three main speakers at the event are Professor Iftikhar Malik, author of Islam and Modernity, Dr Edward Kessler, Founder of the Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations in Cambridge and Dr Canon Andrew Shanks, author of What is Truth? and Faith in Honesty. The forum will be chaired by Sarah Perrigo from the University's Department of Peace Studies. An official plaque is to be placed on Bradford's German Protestant Church to mark Bonhoeffer's connection with the city. | 
