wfn.org | Australian Lutherans adopt Lutheran-Roman Catholic Joint Declaration

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

First tangible outcome of global importance

ADELAIDE, Australia/GENEVA, 4 June 1998 (alc/lwi) - The Lutheran Church of
Australia (LCA) has approved the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Joint Declaration
on the Doctrine of Justification. Welcoming the declaration
enthusiastically, LCA President Lance G. Steicke said: "We appreciate the
great ecumenical importance of this Declaration. It is the first tangible
outcome of dialogue between the two churches on a global level." The LCA is
an associate member of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

The document, which marks the end of more than 450 years without any formal
dialogue, "is a first step," Steicke said, " a step which should inform and
serve all future dialogue and discussions between Lutherans and Roman
Catholics."

In a letter to LWF General Secretary Ishmael Noko, he wrote: "We rejoice at
the wonderful degree of consensus in the faith which has been reached in
this document. It is cause for special thanks to God that Lutherans and
Roman Catholics can jointly confess the heart of the gospel: what God has
done and continues to do for us in Jesus Christ."

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 of the member churches informed the LWF that because of internal
planning their responses would arrive only after the official deadline.

According to LWF 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 124 LWF member churches including the federation's
two associate 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."

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