wfn.org | LWF, Roman Catholics ready to sign 'Joint Declaration'

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

Joint press conference planned for Geneva

GENEVA, 28 May 1999 (lwi) - Following  positive conclusion of
deliberations between the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the
Roman Catholic Church  (RCC),  the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine
of Justification between the RCC and the  LWF is now ready for a
joint action of confirmation.

In a statement here on 27 May 1999, the general secretary of the LWF,
Ishmael Noko announced that he had received on the same day a letter
from the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity, Edward Idris Cardinal Cassidy, confirming that the Holy See is
ready to sign the Joint Declaration.

"With great joy, I can confirm that the Joint Declaration on the
Doctrine of Justification can now be the object of a joint action of
confirmation by the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World
Federation," Noko said.

"Now  it can be declared without reservation that the doctrinal
condemnations which were set forth mutually by the Lutheran and
Catholic sides at the time of the Reformation, do not apply to the
teaching on justification by the two parties expressed in the Joint
Declaration,"he added.

A joint press conference by Dr. Noko and Cardinal Cassidy will take
place here on 11 June 1999.

On the basis of responses from its member churches, the LWF Council
affirmed the Joint Declaration on 16 June 1998. And on 25 June 1998
the Roman Catholic Church gave its response to the same Declaration. 
At that time it was clear that the two dialogue partners had not
affirmed the Joint Declaration in the same way.

An action of joint signing could only take place if the two parties
involved had the same understanding of the significance of such a
signing. In consultations between the Roman Catholic Church and the
LWF, discussions have taken place to clarify the basis for a joint
signing, leading to an "Official Common Statement" which could be
jointly signed, and a short explanatory "Annex" to this Statement.

Cardinal Cassidy writes in his letter to Noko: "I am pleased to
inform you that, after due consultation with the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, I am now able to inform you that the texts of
the "Official Common Statement" and "Annex" have been accepted by the
Holy See. I am authorized  therefore to sign the "Official Common
Statement" together with the Joint Declaration, on behalf of the
Catholic Church at a place and on a date to be jointly agreed on."

In his letter, the Holy See representative expresses to LWF his "most
sincere gratitude for the superb co-operation that has characterized
the rather lengthy process that has been required in order to reach
this positive conclusion."

The Joint Declaration ends over 400 years of condemnations on the
principal doctrinal dispute of the Reformation, that salvation is a
gift from God through Grace, not something human beings earn through
good works.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/