Echoes from Stuttgart: A call to fervent faith in pressured times

As the leaves turned golden this October, I found myself reflecting on a moment etched into the soul of my hometown Stuttgart, in the south of Germany.

80 years ago, just months after the end of World War 2, the city where I was born and where I encountered the radical grace of Jesus Christ, was witness to a rarely seen and thus historically significant public church statement: the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, proclaimed on 18-19 October 1945.

Issued by the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany to an ecumenical delegation, the declaration remains a beacon of humble reckoning up to today. 

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“We are all the more grateful for this visit,” it begins, “as we not only know that we are with our people in a large community of suffering, but also in a solidarity of guilt.” In this raw admission, the church confronted the infinite wrongs inflicted under Nazi terror, not with defensiveness, but with a solidarity that bridged nations and wounds.

[destacate]Issued by the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany to an ecumenical delegation, the declaration remains a beacon of humble reckoning up to today[/destacate]Today, as our EEA family gathers under our 2025 thematic banner of “Hope under Pressure,” I felt this document may call us to the same vulnerability.

Internally, rising populism across Europe fractures our communities with echoes of division; externally, the shadow of war stretches beyond Ukraine, threatening a continent weary from conflict. Yet, like the psalmist in Psalm 130:1—”Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord”—the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt invites us to cry out, finding hope not in denial, but in confession.

At the heart of the declaration lies a sentence that still pierces my spirit, although I have read it many times over the years.

Please allow me to cite it first in my native German language in its original wording: “Wohl haben wir lange Jahre hindurch im Namen Jesu Christi gegen den Geist gekämpft, der im nationalsozialistischen Gewaltregiment seinen furchtbaren Ausdruck gefunden hat; aber wir klagen uns an, dass wir nicht mutiger bekannt, nicht treuer gebetet, nicht fröhlicher geglaubt und nicht brennender geliebt haben.” 

Translated into English, the sentence reads: “We did fight for long years in the name of Jesus Christ against the mentality that found its awful expression in the National Socialist regime of violence; but we accuse ourselves for not standing to our beliefs more courageously, for not praying more faithfully, for not believing more joyously, and for not loving more ardently.” 

This self-indictment, born in the rubble of defeat, refuses to claim moral high ground. The church had resisted, yes—but not boldly enough, not lovingly enough.

Now, in 2025, as populist rhetoric sows fear and aggression, and geopolitical tremors remind us of Ephesians 6:12—”For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world”—we must ask: Have we, believers across Europe, too, faltered in our witness, allowing pressure to dull our prayers and dim our joy?

[destacate] Have we, believers across Europe, faltered in our witness, allowing pressure to dull our prayers and dim our joy?[/destacate]The declaration’s pain mirrors our own: “With great pain we say: By us infinite wrong was brought over many peoples and countries.” This sentence urges us to acknowledge our complicity through silence – or at least to examine ourselves most urgently in this regard.

The 80th anniversary of the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, then, is not a mere historical footnote but a clarion call to fervent faith. Let us heed 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people… will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven.” 

As people of faith across Europe, may we arise to bolder confession, declaring Christ’s lordship amid populist storms; to more faithful prayer, interceding for peace as threats loom; to joyful belief, clinging to Romans 12:12’s reminder to “be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer”; and to ardent love, embracing the marginalized as Christ embraced us.

May we echo the declaration’s plea: “Veni creator Spiritus!” Come, Creator Spirit, and ignite us anew.

Under pressure, our hope is not fragile but forged in fire—resilient, relational, and rooted in the One who turns guilt to glory. The Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt teaches us that true renewal begins on our knees, in our hometown squares as much as across our shared and loved continent.

Let us love more ardently, for in that burning, Europe may yet find healing.  

God bless you!

Matthias Boehning, operations manager of the European Evangelical Alliance. This article was first published by the EEA and re-published with permission.