This week, on two separate evenings, the Otto Philharmonic Orchestra of Berlin will be commemorating the fifth centenary of the Protestant Reformation.

The orchestra will tomorrow perform Symphonies No. 2 and 4 by Robert Schumann at St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, Valletta, while on Saturday, it will perform parts from Bach’s Cantata BWV 79 during an ecumenical service at Mdina Cathedral.

It was October 31, 1517, when the Augustinian friar Martin Luther nailed a list of 95 grievances to the door of the church of Wittenberg Castle in Germany. That was the beginning of a long series of events which lead to separation and bitterness among Christians, wars – in particular the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) – and hate-filled suspicion.

The year 2017 sees the first centennial commemoration of the Reformation to take place within the context of ecumenical relations and dialogue. It also marks 50 years of Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue.

Worldwide events to commemorate these events kicked off last October at Lund in Sweden. Pope Francis himself participated. Countless symposia, discussions, books and articles, documentaries, online material, etc have already seen the light of day and will continue to flow endlessly in the remaining months of the year.

Tomorrow’s event will take place at 7.30pm at St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, Valletta, while Saturday’s performance will be held at the  Mdina cathedral. Entrance for both events is free.

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