wfn.org | LWF Vice-President Bishop Huovinen Calls for Deepening of

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

Huovinen Calls for Deepening of Consensus Reached in the JD
LWF Vice-President Bishop Huovinen Calls for Deepening of Consensus Reached
in the Joint Declaration 
Pope appreciates ecumenical progress between Lutherans and Catholics

VATICAN CITY/GENEVA, 23 January 2004 (LWI)  - Finnish bishop, Dr. Eero
Huovinen, has called for a deepening of the consensus reached in 1999 with
the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ)
between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). It
is also necessary to broaden the consensus to cover the questions that remain
open, said the Helsinki diocese bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Finland in his greeting to Pope John Paul II on Monday, 19 January, at the
Vatican. Huovinen has been the LWF vice-president for the LWF Nordic
Countries region since August 2003. 

It was the "fervent hope" of many Christians that the rapprochement between
the Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran churches based on the JDDJ would
continue, Huovinen stressed. In this connection, he referred to the fifth
anniversary of the signing of the JDDJ, which will be celebrated this year.
On 31 October 1999 in Augsburg (Germany), representatives of the Roman
Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation confirmed a consensus on
the basic truths of the doctrine of justification. 

The "sincere desire for visible unity and for a shared Eucharist" demanded a
patient, deeper advance into the roots of our common Christian faith, the LWF
vice-president said. Huovinen was leading a Finnish ecumenical delegation
received by Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the feast of St Henrik and
the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Henrik, originally from England, was
the first bishop of Finland in the twelfth century and is patron saint of the
Lutheran church in Finland.

During the reception with the Finnish delegation, Pope John Paul II expressed
his gratitude for the ecumenical progress made between Catholics and
Lutherans in the five years since the signing of the JDDJ. He expressed hope
that Lutherans and Catholics "will increasingly practice a spirituality of
communion." This spirituality, he said, draws on elements of ecclesial life
which both already share, and which strengthen their fellowship in prayer and
witness to the Gospel.

Pope John Paul II acknowledged as a "promising sign" of progress on the path
"to full and visible unity" the establishment of a new dialogue group between
Lutherans and Catholics in Finland and Sweden.

Previously, on Sunday 18 January, Huovinen participated in the opening
service of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity led by Walter Cardinal
Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
This year's ecumenical Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, from 18-25
January, is based on the theme "My peace I give to you" (John 14.27).
(450 words)

[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 and inter-faith 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
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