One of the longest religious ceremonies ever recorded, lasting for more than three months and involving nearly 1,000 pastors and priests, has ended in Netherland.
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On Wednesday afternoon, a Dutch church’s nonstop 96-day vigil finally came to an end after its organizers received confirmation that a family of refugees sheltering inside the church would no longer face immediate deportation from the Netherlands.
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Taking advantage of an obscure Dutch law that forbids the police from interrupting church services, ministers at Bethel Church in The Hague had been running a round-the-clock liturgy since Oct. 26 in order to prevent the five members of the Tamrazyan family from being arrested and sent back to Armenia.
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With xenophobia rising in Europe, Christianity’s influence waning and governments taking harder stances on migration, the service quickly became a symbol of how the church can still play a role in contemporary European life — and how liberal causes can still resonate with European populaces.
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Pastors from across Europe visited Bethel to participate in the service, many with several members of their congregations in tow, while more than 250,000 people signed a petition calling for a change to the law under which hundreds of families like the Tamrazyans could have been deported.
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