wfn.org | LWF: Lutheran-Catholic Declaration Delayed

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 24, 1996

LWF: LUTHERAN-CATHOLIC DECLARATION DELAYED
96-23-069-ET

     GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (ELCA) -- Revisions to about six
paragraphs -- out of 45 -- are all that remain before a joint
declaration on justification can be accepted by the Lutheran
World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church. Review of the
latest draft of the document was the main agenda item at the
Sept. 24-Oct. 1 meeting of the LWF Council in Geneva,
Switzerland.
     The Lutheran World Federation is a worldwide communion of
122 member churches, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA).
     When adopted, the document will declare that the
Reformation-era condemnations of both churches toward each other
do not apply to the present churches.  A key section affirmed by
the Lutherans states: "Together we confess: By grace alone, in
faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our
part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who
renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works."
     The revisions will delay adoption of the Lutheran-Roman
Catholic declaration. Originally scheduled for acceptance at the
July 1997 LWF assembly in Hong Kong, the joint agreement now will
not be adopted before the latter half of 1998. In February the
LWF Council's executive committee will accept final wording of
the text and distribute copies to all 122 LWF member churches.
     The ELCA will act on the document at the 1997 Churchwide
Assembly in Philadelphia.  The delay is "not a setback," ELCA
Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson said. "A document of this
magnitude deserves time. It is actually better for us because we
can respond to the text before the LWF makes its final decision."
     LWF President Gottfried Brakemeier of Brazil admitted "a
certain disappointment that we are not able to finish the work as
scheduled, but it is clear that the joint declaration is endorsed
and supported by the LWF. With some amendments, it will succeed."
     The LWF Council's standing committee on ecumenical affairs
examined the joint declaration and identified the areas requiring
revision. Discussion focused on four sections dealing with the
Roman Catholic view that sin is overcome by baptism, whereas
Lutherans say the baptized remain simultaneously both saint and
sinner.
     In other sections, Lutherans must agree among themselves on
the relationship between forgiveness and justification, as well
as develop more Trinitarian language.
     The LWF received 27 largely positive responses to the
declaration from churches representing about three-fourths of the
Lutherans in LWF member churches. The declaration was distributed
to 17 Roman Catholic bishops' conferences. Three raised questions
that were addressed in the present draft.

     In other actions the council:
  *  Elected ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson as a
     council member and as an LWF vice president.
  *  Endorsed LWF support for Augusta Victoria Hospital in East
     Jerusalem. The hospital, which has served Palestinians since
     Israel's founding, is about $4.5 million in debt.
  *  Condemned renewed violence in the Israeli-Palestinian
     conflict, recognizing the "frustration of the Palestinians
     due to the lack of implementation of the Oslo Agreements."
  *  Heard that the LWF ended 1995 without a deficit despite a
     sharp decline in exchange rates for the U.S. dollar, the
     German mark and the Swedish crown against the Swiss franc.

[The Rev. Edgar R. Trexler, editor of "The Lutheran" magazine,
contributed this story.]

For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958 or AHAFFTEN@ELCA.ORG; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir.,
(312) 380-2955 or FRANKI@ELCA.ORG