wfn.org | VELKD commemorates 50th anniversary in Eisenach

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

Joint Declaration among issues marking celebrations

EISENACH, Germany/GENEVA, 9 July 1998 (epd/idea/lwi) - The United
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD) celebrated its 50th
anniversary with a festive service in Eisenach on Sunday, July 5. The
Vatican's response to the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification" was among the issues that marked the celebrations, report
the Evangelische Pressedienst (epd) and Swiss news agency IDEA.

In his sermon, VELKD Presiding Bishop Horst Hirschler, emphatically
advocated the overcoming of differences between the Protestant and Roman
Catholic churches, "Much more links the confessions than separates us,"
Hirschler said, according to epd. Church-dividing doctrinal condemnations
are therefore "no longer appropriate." Although the Vatican's recent
response has "opened these differences anew," the Protestant church should
continue "transcending borders" in its congregations and ecumenical
conversations, he continued.
The Vatican's response to the Joint Declaration "rather restricts" the
boundaries set for ecumenical dialogue, according to former president of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Brazilian theologian, Gottfried
Brakemeier. But the Joint Declaration has set norms "behind which one
cannot go, ecumenically speaking," he underlined at the ensuing festive
reception. Not only the Lutheran partner churches are disappointed at the
response but also many Roman Catholic bishops and church members, he said.

LWF Vice-President Prasanna Kumari from India showed similar
disappointment, IDEA reports: "I believe that we should not sign the
Declaration before the mutual doctrinal condemnations are lifted," she
said. The response from Rome was "extraordinarily unexpected". The
Lutherans feel "strongly hurt," and the Roman Catholic response, she said,
means ecumenical stagnation.

The VELKD was founded 50 years ago, on 8 July 1948. An exhibition in the
Luther House in Eisenach documents its history and work under the theme
"Pictures of a Life." Documents, photos and liturgical objects are used to
explain principles of the churches' union, elements of Lutheran worship,
various congregational projects, international contacts and ecumenical
relations.

VELKD member churches today include the Evangelical Lutheran Churches in
Bavaria, Brunswick, Hanover, Mecklenburg, North Elbia, Saxony,
Schaumburg-Lippe and Thuringia.

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