wfn.org | LWF Council unanimously approves Joint Declaration

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

LWF COUNCIL
Press Release No. 06/98

LWF Council unanimously approves Joint Declaration with Roman Catholics
Document ends 400-year dispute on doctrine of justification

GENEVA, 16 June 1998 (lwi) - By a unanimous vote, the Lutheran World
Federation Council has approved the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification" with the Roman Catholic Church. The "Joint Declaration" ends
400 years of condemnations on the principal doctrinal dispute of the
Reformation, that salvation is a gift from God through grace, not something
humans earn through good works.

The "Joint Declaration" was circulated among the 124 member churches of the
Lutheran World Federation. The Council acted after a "significant majority"
of churches approved the "Joint Declaration."

Both the Protestants and Catholics during Reformation times issued
condemnations of each other. The "Joint Declaration" asserts that though
there still remain some differences on the understanding of justification,
the differences are not substantial enough to warrant the condemnations.

The text of the resolution approving the declaration said, "on the basis of
the positive responses of the said majority, the agreements regarding the
doctrine of justification as presented in the  Joint Declaration  be
affirmed, and that on the basis of these agreements the doctrinal
condemnations in the Lutheran confessional writings regarding justification
be declared not to apply to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church as
presented in the "Joint Declaration."

The resolution also asked Lutherans to explore the "pastoral consequences
of the agreements" jointly with the Roman Catholic churches. Though there
have been three signed letters of agreement regarding the "Joint
Declaration," the Catholic church has not yet taken final action. When
approved, details for a joint signing of the Declaration would be worked
out.

(Further releases on the Joint Declaration will follow.)

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is a global communion of Lutheran
churches. Founded in Lund, Sweden, in 1947, the LWF now has 124 member
churches in 69 countries representing over 57 million of the world's 61
million Lutherans. The LWF headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Lutheran World Information
Editorial Assistant: Janet Bond-Nash
E-mail: jbn@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/