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Norway Church Condemns Martin Luther’s Anti-Semitism

— The Church of Norway, the state’s Lutheran church, condemned church founder Martin Luther’s anti-Jewish legacy.

The church made the statement ahead of the 500-year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, started by the 16th century German theologian, The Associated Press reported.

The Church of Norway’s General Synod acknowledged that Luther’s writings were used in Nazi propaganda and were spread through Nazi-occupied Norway during World War II.  Luther called for the persecution of Jews in his later writings.

“(I)n the Reformation anniversary year of 2017, we as a church must clearly distance ourselves from the anti-Judaism that Luther left behind,” read the statement, according to the AP.

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