... East Berlin is considered one of the most “godless” places in the world. Over 50% of its population identify as atheist. But membership numbers at St. Mary’s Lutheran church are booming, up by more than 300 thanks to the growth of a phenomenon several congregations throughout Berlin and other cities in eastern Germany have been experiencing for the last few years.

Iranian, and occasionally Afghan, émigrés have become emerging faces in what is considered to be waning religious life in Germany.

After paying up to $30,000 to be smuggled into the country with fake passports, they’ve taken on western names, doubled congregation numbers in several independent Lutheran, Evangelical and Presbyterian churches, and eagerly await their baptism ceremonies while attempting to rebuild their lives as refugees.

Germany hasn’t seen since an Iranian migrant population this large since after the 1979 revolution. The association of Iranian refugees in Berlin says the number of Iranians coming to Germany has doubled every year for the last five years, from less than 1,000 in 2008 to 4,348 in 2012. Figures from the federal office for migration and refugees in Germany confirms this trend: with over 3,500 Iranians granted asylum last year, Iran was one of five countries from which Germany saw a rise in asylum applications.

Spread across multiple churches and asylum camps, Muslim-to-Christian converts from Iran make up a noticeable population of asylum seekers who say a growing crackdown on Muslim-born Christian converts back home, and disillusion from decades of living under Islamic law, have led them to Germany. Though Iranian converts can be found in The Netherlands, Sweden and Austria, Germany’s economic stability and reputation as a major refugee hosting country has made the European country the most desirable destination….

Despite the risks of going through difficult mountainous terrain or getting caught, leaving home has remained the only viable option for a growing group of Iranians who say they will be jailed, tortured and at worst murdered for their religious beliefs. Though there is no specific punishment for apostasy, the rejection or abandonment of one’s former religion, the act is left open to lawmakers’ interpretation. This means the price Iran’s Muslim to Christian converts pay is unpredictable, and potentially life-threatening….

~Liana Aghajanian for the Tehran Bureau
“‘Our Second Mother’: Iran’s Converted Christians Find Sanctuary in Germany.” The Guardian, 12 May 2014. Web