wfn.org | LWF receives 66 written responses to Joint Declaration by May 1

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

GENEVA, 14 May 1998 (lwi) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) received 66
written responses from the 124 member churches to the Joint Declaration on
the Doctrine of Justification between Lutherans and Roman Catholics, by May
1.

Fifteen written responses from the 26 African LWF member churches include
12 positive responses, two negative and one signifying both "yes" and "no".
One of the largest African Lutheran churches, The Ethiopian Evangelical
Church Mekane Yesus with 2,274,209 members, unanimously accepted the
declaration as early as January. The 1,500,000-member Malagasy Lutheran
Church has rejected the document. The results from Nigeria differed. The
575,000-member Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria accepted the Joint
Declaration while the 85,000-member Lutheran Church of Nigeria voted
against it.

Twelve positive responses were received from Asia, and only one negative,
that of the Kinki Evangelical Lutheran Church in Japan. 

So far, only positive responses to the Joint Declaration are to be recorded
in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nine of the 14 voting member churches
in this region, strongly marked by the presence of the Roman Catholic
Church, voted in favor of the ecumenical document, including the region's
largest Lutheran church, the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession
in Brazil with its membership of over one million.

Twenty-six responses were received from Europe. Like the Lutheran Church in
Liberia, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark agrees that the
condemnations regarding justification do not apply to the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church today, but does not consider the consensus on
doctrinal issues to be sufficient. 

Both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Canada agreed to the declaration. The Estonian
Evangelical Lutheran Church adopted the Joint Declaration, while the
Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad, headquartered in Canada,
rejected it.

May 1 was the official deadline set for the LWF member churches to send in
their responses to the Joint Declaration. But, even before that date,
several LWF member churches informed the LWF that because of internal
planning their responses would arrive only after the official deadline. The
synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland for example - the
second largest European LWF member church - voted after May 1 (see
following article). The response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Hanover also is still to come.

According to assistant general secretary for ecumenical affairs, Sven
Oppegaard, all responses that arrive before the June 8-17 LWF Council
meeting, to be held in Geneva, will be taken into consideration. 

All responses will be analyzed by the Institute for Ecumenical Research in
Strasbourg. A report will be presented to the LWF Council via the Standing
Committee for Ecumenical Affairs. The council will then take a final
decision on the Joint Declaration in June.

In February 1997, the LWF member churches were asked whether they accept
"the conclusions reached in Paragraph 40 and Paragraph 41 of the JD and
thus join in affirming that, because of the agreement on the fundamental
meaning and truth of our justification in Christ to which the JD testifies,
the condemnations regarding justification in the Lutheran Confessions do
not apply to the teaching on justification of the Roman Catholic Church
presented in the JD".

*       *       *

Lutheran World Information
Editorial Assistant: Janet Bond-Nash
E-mail: jbn@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/