wfn.org | Focus on the signing of the Joint Declaration in Augsburg

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

Celebrations planned for 30 to 31 October 1999

GENEVA 8 October 1999 (lwi) - As announced earlier in the Lutheran World
Information (lwi), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Roman
Catholic Church will confirm the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification on 31 October 1999 in Augsburg, Germany.

The occasion is of historic importance not only for the LWF and the
Catholics but also for the worldwide ecumenical movement. It represents
the significant fruition of a 30-year process of bilateral theological
dialogue between the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church. Also, it is the
first time ever that a declaration has been made officially and jointly
by the respective communions.

For the LWF, the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification will
be signed by the President Bishop Christian Krause (Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Brunswick, Germany); the General Secretary Rev. Dr. Ishmael
Noko (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe); and the vice-presidents
Dr. Sigrun Mogedal -the LWF Treasurer (Church of Norway); Mrs Parmata
Ishaya (the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria); Rev Dr. Prasanna
Kumari (the Arcot Lutheran Church, India); Bishop Julius Filo
(Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic);
President Huberto Kirchheim (Evangelical Church of the Lutheran
Confession in Brazil) and Bishop H. George Anderson (Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America).

The two signatories for the Catholic church are the President of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), Edward Idris
Cardinal Cassidy and the PCPCU Secretary Bishop Walter Kasper.

The celebrations will be marked for two days, Saturday, 30 October and
Sunday, 31 October. Festivities on Saturday include a ceremony for
special guests in the Golden Hall of the city of Augsburg. A guided tour
of the city's ecclesiastical history will take place in the afternoon.
Also scheduled for the afternoon is a youth event, organized by the
Focolari movement. It will take place in the Lutheran section of the
church of St. Ulrich and Afra. The ecumenical vesper begins at 6.00 p.m.
in the Roman Catholic Basilica of Saints Ulrich and Afra.

Sunday begins with morning worship services in various churches in
Augsburg. At 9.30 a.m. those wishing to participate will assemble in the
Cathedral (Dom) and then move in procession towards St. Anna Church. The
ceremony in the Lutheran Church of St. Anna, where the signing of the
Joint Declaration will take place, will be transmitted to a big a screen
in a tent next door so that those who do not have seats reserved inside
will be able to follow from there. The signing of the Joint Declaration
in the context of the celebration of an ecumenical service, is scheduled
for 10.45 a.m. This will be followed by lunch in the Augustana house.

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee. The LWF secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information is the information service of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented
does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various
units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation (lwi), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/