Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - Consolation, grief and encouragement: Orphaned parents, grieving siblings, friends and relatives remembered deceased children in several churches and chapels in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday. There were church services, devotions and commemorative events - often organized together with hospice associations, said the Evangelical Church in Central Germany (EKM) on Sunday.

There were commemorations in Klöden in the Wittenberg church district, in Merseburg, Wernigerode and Magdeburg. In the state capital there was a special commemoration in the Cathedral of St. Sebastian. According to the information, a working group of clinic chaplains, the Network Life Foundation and those affected invited to the meditative ceremony.

The occasion is the "Worldwide Candle Lighting" - the world memorial day for deceased children - on which at 7 p.m. a burning candle in a window commemorates the dead worldwide. According to the EKM, around 20,000 children and young adults die every year in Germany as a result of illness, accidents, premature birth or stillbirth. Many grieving parents would still suffer greatly from their loss years later, it said.