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ELCA NEWS SERVICE - NEWSBRIEFS

February 11, 1997

LUTHERAN, CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADERS MEET

The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and Roman
Catholic Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb will participate in a
historic forum Feb. 20 to speak on "The Common Statement on
Justification by Faith" as proposed by the Roman Catholic
Church and the churches of the Lutheran World Federation.
Anderson, long-time leader in Lutheran-Catholic dialogue, and
Lipscomb, recent chair of the U.S. Bishops'Committee for
Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, will discuss the
development, recent amendments, and significance
of the common statement.  Dialogue between the church bodies
on the justification issue has been ongoing, and Catholic and
Lutheran scholars in the United States broke new ground in
1983 with their joint statement, "Justification by Faith."  In this
paper both churches were able to say "Our entire hope of
justification and salvation rests on Christ Jesus and on the
Gospel whereby the good news of God's merciful action in Christ
is made known; we do not place our ultimate trust in anything
other than God's promise and saving work in Christ."  A draft
statement was circulated in 1995 to member churches of the
Lutheran World Federation, a global communion of 122 member
churches including the ELCA, and the bishops' conferences of
the Catholic Church with a request for responses.  The draft
statement, which may be on the agenda for the 1997 ELCA
Churchwide Assembly in Philadelphia, proposes to express a
common statement of faith that both sides would find to be an
adequate expression of the essentials of Christian belief on
justification.  The forum will be hosted by Luther College in
Decorah, Iowa, one of 28 colleges and universities associated
with the ELCA.  Anderson was president of Luther College from
1982-1995 before his election as the second presiding bishop
of  the ELCA.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html