wfn.org | Joint Declaration Remains High Point of Lutheran-Catholic Cooperation

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@ELCA.ORG>]

LWF General Secretary Noko Congratulates Walter Cardinal Kasper on
70th Birthday

GENEVA, 4 March 2003 (LWI) - General Secretary of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, has expressed thanks
to Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), for his contribution to the
"growth in unity of the universal church of Jesus Christ," both
theologically and in terms of ecclesial relations. In a
congratulatory letter for the occasion of Kasper's 70th birthday
March 5, Noko says he is grateful for the "excellent personal and
professional relationship," they have shared over several years.

Together in confessing the one, holy, catholic and apostolic
Church, Noko says he hopes the Roman Catholic Church and communion
of churches which is the Lutheran World Federation will "continue
on their path of rapprochement, contributing thereby to the
wholeness of the ecumenical movement."

The achievement and celebration of the Joint Declaration on the
Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), affirmed by representatives of
the LWF and Roman Catholic Church on 31 October 1999 in Augsburg,
Germany, would "certainly remain a high point of our cooperation,"
Noko continues. The two leaders were among the ten dignitaries who
signed the Official Common Statement affirming the JDDJ. Noko adds
that he knows that both sides are strongly committed to following
up the work in all possible ways.

Pope John Paul II named Kasper, who is German, President of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity on 3 March 2001
to succeed Edward Idris Cardinal Cassidy. Kasper had been
Secretary of the PCPCU since March 1999. He was elevated to the
office of Cardinal on 22 February 2001. A proven expert in
ecumenical affairs, he taught dogmatic theology at the University
of Muenster from 1964, and held the chair in dogmatics of the
Catholic theology faculty in Tuebingen from 1970. In 1989 he
became Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Germany.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 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 LWF's information
service. 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.]

*	*	*
LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
PO Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
English Editor: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
Tel: (41.22) 791.63.54
Fax: (41.22) 791.66.30
http://www.lutheranworld.org/