wfn.org | Declaration on Justification: LWF Executive Committee will discuss

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

further progress

Ishmael Noko briefs National Committees and member churches on further
steps

GENEVA, 14 September 1998 (lwi) - The Executive Committee of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF), during its meeting on 13 and 14 November, will
discuss further steps to be taken regarding the Joint Declaration on
Justification. This is the follow-up phase to a letter which the LWF
general secretariat sent to the various National Committees and member
churches at the end of August.

Included in that missive was a copy of a letter dated July 30 in which the
head of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Edward
Idris Cardinal Cassidy, presented the Roman Catholic Church's July 25th
response to the Joint Declaration (LWI 13/98).

"New Perspectives" open

According to LWF General Secretary Ishmael Noko, this letter "does not
alter what is stated in the Roman Catholic Church's official response";
rather, it opens up "a new perspective on how to read, understand and
interpret this response". Among other things, Noko refers to the
distinctions raised by Cassidy. "The letter from Cardinal Cassidy states
formally that only the first part of the response, called Declaration, 'is
to be considered strictly as a response to the question raised in the Joint
Declaration'." In contrast to this, the second part of the response, called
Clarifications, "'has a completely different value to that of the
Declaration'". In the Clarifications are to be found "'those points
requiring some further dialogue'".

The General Secretary further points out Cassidy's emphasis that "'there
can be no difficulty for the Catholic Church to affirm and sign the Joint
Declaration, since it accepts without reservation its conclusion that "a
consensus on basic truths of the doctrine of justification has been
reached"'".

As Noko states in his letter to the National Committees and member
churches, it is thus "clear that the distinction now claimed between the
nature of the two parts of the Roman Catholic response constitutes a new
emphasis. If we had had this distinction from the outset, some of the
debates that have taken place, owing to the lack of clarity regarding the
character of the Roman Catholic response, could have been avoided. The
issues raised in the Clarifications might then not have been considered as
formal reservations to the agreements formulated in the Joint Declaration,
but as specifications of issues requiring further clarification in the time
to come."

He continues, "As Lutherans, we fully agree that there are very important
questions still to be broached in the time ahead, pertaining both to the
content of the doctrine of justification and to its role in the life of the
church." This was also clearly stated in the conclusion of the LWF Council
of June 16 of this year (LWI 11&12/98).

Whether or not, in light of the recent elucidations from the Vatican, the
necessary clarifications for a joint confirmation of the Declaration can
now be worked out remains a moot point for the LWF Executive Committee in
November. In any event, Noko emphasizes to the National Committees and the
member churches of the LWF that for the time being, pending a decision by
the Executive Committee, there are "no plans for a joint confirmation".

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