Title: ELCA Delegation Greets Pope, Presents Icon At March 22 Audience ELCA NEWS SERVICE
March 23, 2006
ELCA Delegation Greets Pope, Presents Icon At March 22 Audience 06-045-JB
VATICAN CITY (ELCA) -- An 18-member delegation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) greeted Pope Benedict XVI following his regular weekly audience March 22 here at St. Peter's Basilica. Five members of the ELCA Conference of Bishops presented the pope with an icon of St. Augustine and delivered a written greeting authored by the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary. Chicago.
The icon and message were presented to the pope on behalf of the ELCA, Almen said. The icon was made specifically for Pope Benedict XVI, and was created by the Rev. Gary L. Safrit, retired ELCA pastor, Greer, S.C., he said.
Joining Almen for the presentations to Pope Benedict XVI were the Rev. Allen C. Bjornberg, bishop of the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver; the Rev. Philip L. Hougen, bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod, Des Moines; the Rev. E. Roy Riley, bishop of the ELCA New Jersey Synod, Hamilton Square, and chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops; and the Rev. Steven L. Ullestad, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Iowa Synod, Waverly. Almen and Riley are leading the ELCA delegation.
Almen and the bishops were seated within a few feet of the pope while the remainder of the delegation was seated nearby behind a small barrier.
The ELCA delegation is visiting here as part of an extended ecumenical journey, organized by the churchwide organization every three years. The Lutherans met last week with world church leaders in Geneva and Istanbul, and will travel March 25 to London for the final part of their journey. Most of the delegation's meetings in Rome are with officials of The Vatican.
Thousands of people filled much of St. Peter's Square for the 90-minute public audience. It included readings from Scripture and a short homily by Pope Benedict XVI. The pope's staff read aloud -- in several languages -- the names of several guests in attendance, including an acknowledgement for the ELCA delegation. The pope also greeted visitors in several languages.
Greetings to Pope Benedict XVI
In the written greeting from the ELCA, Almen began by greeting the pontiff on behalf of the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, and the 4.9 million members of the ELCA. Hanson also serves as president of the 66-million-member Lutheran World Federation (LWF), a global communion of Lutheran churches based in Geneva.
The ELCA secretary noted that in November 2005, Pope Benedict XVI welcomed Hanson to The Vatican. In his remarks then, the pope commented on the international Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue that produced the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ)," a significant theological document signed in 1999 between the LWF and The Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI called the JDDJ "a significant milestone on our common path to full visible unity."
"We as representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are mindful, with you, of the need for building on the milestone of the "Joint Declaration," the greeting said. "Further, we yearn for ways to observe jointly the 50th anniversary in 2015 of the promulgation of Dei Verbum from the Second Vatican Council, and to mark in 2017 the 500th anniversary of the events of 1517, particularly in terms of their wholesome contemporary implications for ongoing renewal and reform."
Lutherans are mindful of the need for a "holy restlessness" in pursuit of deeper recognition and practice of God-given unity, the greeting said. "Such a holy restlessness is not for the sake of our churches alone, but also for the sake of the salvation of the world through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ," the greeting said.
"We also sense the urgent need for renewal of the churches in the secular context of societies," the greeting said. "This renewal will lead, under the guidance of God's Spirit, to more profound obedience to the Word and the broader evangelization of the world through the power of the Gospel."
"The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- like the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S.A. and other churches -- is an immigrant church. Churches in the U.S.A. grew and ministered in the midst of the various waves of immigration from all parts of the world throughout the past three centuries. Further, the context of the American churches has none of the state-church features of some countries in the world," the greeting said.
In the United States the official Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue, now in its 41st year, "is active and fruitful," and has produced "significant documents," the greeting said. In December 2005 the 11th round began with the topic, "Hope for Eternal Life." The round is to address some matters listed for further discussion in the process that led to the JDDJ, the greeting said. Almen is the Lutheran co-chair for this round of the dialogue; the Most Rev. Richard J. Sklba, auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, is Roman Catholic co-chair.
"Given the continuing journey of the faithful in the earthly pilgrimage of our churches, we join you in persistent prayer for healing of the divisions at the Eucharistic table, even as we also beg for God's healing of our hearts and lives as we kneel under the eternal shadow of the Cross," the greeting concluded.
On March 24, the ELCA delegation will see Pope Benedict XVI again. On that day the Lutherans have been invited to attend a consistory, at which the pope will elevate 15 Roman Catholic Church leaders to cardinal. Among them are two men from the United States -- Archbishop William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with whom the ELCA delegation met briefly on March 22; and Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley O.F.M. Cap., Archdiocese of Boston. ---
Information about The Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI is at on the Web.
Information about the concistory is at
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2006/documents/ns_lit _doc_20060324_index-concistoro_en.html on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog