wfn.org | LWF President, Catholic Bishop Caution against Ecumenical

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Egalitarianism
Call for Open Dialogue that Recognizes Confessional Identities

WOLFENBUeTTEL/HILDESHEIM, Germany/GENEVA 11 January 2002 - The
president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop Dr.
Christian Krause, and Roman Catholic Bishop Josef Homeyer of
Hildesheim, Germany have advocated honest and open dialogue that
takes seriously the confessional identities of the respective
parties.

Speaking at a January 8 joint consultation at the Wolfenbuettel
premises of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick of which
Krause is bishop, the church leaders warned against ecumenical
egalitarianism or "leveling down" of identities.

Genuine progress in Protestant-Roman Catholic dialogue, they
stated, can only be realized by pursuing the truth. They expressed
the need to see the doctrine of justification formulated in such a
way that it be comprehensible for people in the 21st century.

The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) was
signed by the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church on 31 October 1999
in Augsburg, Germany. It deals with one of the most central issues
in the sixteenth century doctrinal disputes between Lutherans and
Roman Catholics. The JDDJ outlines the respective understandings
of the two parties regarding the doctrine of justification by
God's grace through faith in Christ. It also states point by point
their common positions on this doctrine. In this way a
"differentiated consensus" has been achieved, showing that the
remaining differences in its clarification do not give reason for
doctrinal condemnations. A follow-up process involves examining
the implications of the 1999 agreement and of the doctrine itself
for the life of the churches.

Krause pointed out that the question of confessional identity not
only arises in Protestant-Roman Catholic dialogue but has also
taken on new significance in dialogue among Protestants. According
to the Brunswick bishop, Protestant churches have a particular
need to discuss anew the meaning of the office of bishop in an
ecumenical context.

Both church leaders expressed understanding for the widespread
desire of many local churches for greater ecumenical fellowship.
Christians must join together, they said, in meeting today's
challenges such as new mission activities in response to people's
longing for religion, or conversations with believers of the
Islamic faith.

Oberlandeskirchenrat Peter Kollmar, an executive in the
Wolfenbuettel church office asked the Hildesheim diocese
representatives to do what they could to enable Protestant
Christians to share in the Roman Catholic Eucharist as guests. As
a precedent he cited the cooperation between confessions in
religious instruction in Niedersachsen.

Besides Homeyer, the Roman Catholic delegation at the consultation
included auxiliary Bishops Nikolaus Schwerdtfeger and Hans Georg
Koitz; the Provost-elect for Brunswick, Reinhard Heine; Prelate
Heinrich Guenther from Wolfsburg, and Ecumenical Officer Andreas
Renz. Other participants from the Brunswick Lutheran church
included Dr. Karla Sichelschmidt, Dr. Robert Fischer and Cornelius
Hahn.

Krause, who turned 62 on January 6 announced last May his
intention to retire early from the bishop's office to which he was
elected for life in 1996. His successor bishop-elect Dr. Friedrich
Weber is expected to take up his new position this spring. Krause
continues as LWF President, to which he was appointed at the
Federation's Ninth Assembly in Hong Kong, China in 1997. The
450,00-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick joined the
LWF in 1947.

(By Michael Strauss, Press Officer, Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Brunswick)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 133 member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5
million of the 64.3 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human
rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and
development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) 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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