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Obama expected at Protestant event in Berlin next month

FILE - In this June 19, 2013 file photo President Barack Obama, accompanied by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, waves to the crowd after speaking at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Obama will return to Berlin to attend an event of the Lutheran Church conference end of May 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, file) FILE - In this June 19, 2013 file photo President Barack Obama, accompanied by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, waves to the crowd after speaking at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Obama will return to Berlin to attend an event of the Lutheran Church conference end of May 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, file)

By Associated Press April 11, 2017 1 min read

BERLIN (AP) – Organizers say former U.S. President Barack Obama will take part in a discussion event with Chancellor Angela Merkel at a German Protestant conference in Berlin next month as Germany marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

News agency dpa reported Tuesday that the May 25 event will take place in front of Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate, where Obama delivered a speech as president in 2013.

The discussion on “shaping democracy – taking responsibility at home and in the world” is part of the German Protestant Kirchentag conference, held every two years.

Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, is expected to visit Germany for the first time as president when Merkel hosts the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg in July.

Martin Luther’s revolt against Catholic Church practices started in Germany in 1517.