wfn.org | Lutheran-Roman Catholic Declaration Makes History

[Brenda Williams <BRENDAW@elca.org>]

Reply-To: ElcaNews <ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG>
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 2, 1998

LUTHERAN-ROMAN CATHOLIC DECLARATION MAKES HISTORY
98-24-143-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "This does more than just open a new chapter in
Lutheran-Roman Catholic relations.  It really starts writing a new book,"
said the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America.  The council of the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF) approved a "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification," and
the Vatican affirmed that "a high degree of agreement has been reached."
Both called for continued study.
     Justification or "the question of our relationship to God was at the
heart of the issue in the 16th century with Martin Luther," said Anderson.
Luther's dispute with the Roman Catholic Church contributed to the
Reformation that split Western Christianity.
     The actions June 16 by the LWF and June 25 by the Vatican confirmed
there is "a consensus on the basic truths of justification, but in both
cases there is more work to do," said Anderson.
     "For the first time since the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church
and the Lutheran churches have responded at the highest international
levels to a commonly developed statement," said LWF General Secretary
Ishmael Noko.  "The very affirmation of 'a consensus in basic truths of the
doctrine of justification' is a significant step forward in the relations
between our churches."
     The Joint Declaration does not resolve all points of difference
between Lutherans and Roman Catholics on the doctrine of justification, but
it concludes that those differences "do not destroy the consensus regarding
basic truths."

     "We have agreed that, when God deals with human beings, God says, 'I
love you,' and doesn't say, 'I'll love you if...,'" said Anderson.  "God
loves us unconditionally and that creates a whole new relationship between
us and God, and it is created from God's side and not from ours."  He added
that remaining differences between Lutherans and Roman Catholics about
justification have to do with "how we respond to this message of love."
     Justification "is one more area of faith where we now can say
Lutherans and Roman Catholics agree," he said.  "We have a broader basis to
affirm our neighbor's church and theology."
     In his regular Sunday address on June 28, Pope John Paul II called
the declaration "an important ecumenical achievement."  He said he hoped it
could "encourage and reinforce the declared aim that Lutherans and
Catholics pursue the achievement of visible full unity."
     Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity, presented the document to reporters at a Vatican
news conference.  "There will be a formal signing of the Joint Declaration
and a celebration of the consensus achieved sometime in the autumn," he
said.
     Statements made in the 16th century cannot be erased from history,
but the consensus reached in the declaration means "the corresponding
condemnations found in the Lutheran Confessions and in the Council of Trent
no longer apply," said Cassidy.  "At the same time this Joint Declaration
has limits."
     "In affirming that a consensus in fundamental truths on the doctrine
of justification has indeed been reached, the Catholic Church is issuing an
accompanying explanatory note in which certain points regarding the
document are being clarified for the benefit of the members of the Catholic
Church," said Cassidy.
     Noko responded, "I recognize in the Roman Catholic reply that
reservations are made on essential points."  He added, "It is my hope,
nevertheless, that clarification on these essential points might be reached
in the time to come so that the full intention of the Joint Declaration
might be accomplished."
     The declaration is an invitation to work together on issues
identified as unresolved, said Anderson.  "Working with ecumenical
relations is like playing a video game.  You solve one screen, and then you
suddenly see new challenges put before you."
     Anderson was the Lutheran co-chair of Lutheran-Roman Catholic
dialogues in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s, when it reached
consensus on the basic truths of the doctrine of justification.  "Now it
has moved on," he said, "and I'm very pleased with that."
     The LWF is a global communion of Lutheran churches, including the
ELCA.  Founded in 1947, the LWF now has 124 member churches in 69 countries
representing more than 57 million of the world's 61 million Lutherans.  LWF
central offices are in Geneva, Switzerland.

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