wfn.org | Bishop Christian Krause calls for larger ecumenical communion

[David Pomeroy <wfn@igc.apc.org>]

Krause calls for larger ecumenical communion
New LWF president speaks at news conference

Lutheran World Federation

HONG KONG, July 25, 1997 (lwi) - Bishop Christian Krause, new president of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), stressed ecumenism at a press
conference following his election July 14. Krause is bishop of the Lutheran
Church in Brunswick, Germany. He expressed a "wish" that "there could be a
federation of world Lutheran and Reformed churches."

Krause said, "My impression is that confessional communions such as the LWF
are more important than ever for the ecumenical movement." He said, "The
Roman Catholic and Orthodox communions can only progress if they are part
of a larger ecumenical communion."

Krause urged a "step-by-step" approach to the Roman Catholic Church.
Lutherans and Roman Catholics are currently considering a "Joint
Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification," which deals with a major
doctrinal issue that has separated them since the 16th century. He called
the joint declaration a first step and warned against "the impression that
the joint declaration is a final or end point." He said the next step
should be toward eucharistic communion.

The LWF's commitment to the joint declaration gives a push to the
ecumenical movement, Krause said.

"I lost my heart in Africa," Krause said. He worked for the LWF's
Tanganyika Christian Refugee Service from 1971-1972. At the press
conference he stressed a special "relationship between the Brunswick church
and the Lutheran church in Japan." Krause has experience in Central America
and the Middle East, he said.

The LWF has financial problems, Krause said, as other organizations do. He
cautioned against a tendency to turn inward: A church which withdraws into
itself will not be a church.
"The dimension of the universal church is essential to being a missionary
church," he said.

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