wfn.org | Lutherans and Catholics reach agreement

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99-170

482 years after Luther's protest, Lutherans and Catholics reach 
agreement

by Kathryn McCormick

     (ENS) On October 31, 482 years to the day after Martin 
Luther nailed on a church door his list of 95 theses, thus 
launching the Lutheran Reformation, Lutherans and Roman Catholics 
solemnly declared that mutual condemnations from the Reformation 
era no longer apply.

     Before a congregation of 750 church leaders and journalists 
that filled St. Anna's Lutheran Church in Augsburg, Germany, 
Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Vatican's Pontifical 
Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Lutheran Bishop 
Christian Krause, president of the Lutheran World Federation, 
signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.

     According to the document, there is now "a consensus in 
basic truths" between Lutherans and Catholics on the doctrine of 
justification--one of the most contentious issues that divided 
Luther and his followers from the papacy. As a result the "mutual 
doctrinal condemnations do not apply to the teaching of the 
dialogue partners as presented in the joint declaration."

     Spontaneous applause broke out in the church as Dr. Ishmael 
Noko, the LWF's general secretary, and Bishop Walter Kasper, 
secretary of the Pontifical Council, embraced after adding their 
signatures to the document. 

     As the applause continued, the LWF's treasurer, Dr. Sigrun 
Mogedal of the Church of Norway, as well as the LWF's five vice-
presidents--H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Parmata Abusu Ishaya, a 
member of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria; Dr. Prasanna 
Kumari, executive secretary of the United Evangelical Lutheran 
Church of India; Dr. Julius Filo, bishop of the Evangelical 
Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic, and 
Huberto Kirchheim, president of the Evangelical Church  of the 
Lutheran Confession in Brazil--added their signatures to the 
document.

Common ground

     "We are witnessing a significant day in the history of our 
churches. For the first time in centuries, here in Augsburg, we 
are again setting foot on common ground," Krause told the 
congregation in his sermon. "Antagonism and frequently even 
enmity between our churches have been the source of conflicts, 
distress and suffering for many people, in many countries on this 
earth. May God give us new strength for reconciliation and the 
courage to seek peace."

     In his sermon, Cassidy said, "We have succeeded in bringing 
here today a document that takes forward in a significant way the 
work of restoration of unity among the followers of Christ."

     Pope John Paul II issued a statement in Rome immediately 
after the signing, describing the agreement as a "milestone on 
the not always easy road towards the restoration of full unity 
between Christians."

     After the service, Anderson, who was a negotiator of the 
agreement as well as a signer, commented, "This is a critical 
breakthrough. It's the first major step toward reconciliation 
between the two churches since the Reformation. Now we understand 
we have creeds in common, and that removes the taint of heresy 
from both sides.

     "It's the difference between handling each other as if we 
were prickly sea urchins, and being able to shake hands." 

     The doctrine of justification--that people are saved by the 
grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, and have not done 
anything on their own to become "right with God"--stood at the 
core of many disputes between Lutherans and Roman Catholics since 
the 16th century.

     The role of "good works" or "Christian living" is a related 
issue that Lutherans and Roman Catholics now say is "not church-
dividing." Roman Catholics hold that good works contribute to 
growth in grace and that a reward in heaven is promised to these 
works, according to the declaration. Lutherans emphasize that 
justification is complete in Christ's saving work and that 
Christian living is a sign of unmerited love. Luther wrote his 95 
theses in protest against the Roman Catholic Church, including 
the church's sale of indulgences, letters replacing punishment 
for the sins of repentant Christians.

     Reporters asked Cassidy during a pre-service press 
conference if the pope's issuing a new Manual of Indulgences for 
the year 2000, in which Roman Catholics will be able to earn 
indulgences by visiting various historic sites during the 
church's "year of jubilee," contradicted the teachings described 
in the joint declaration. Cassidy said the pope put the 
indulgences in their proper place; indulgences come only from God 
and only after justification. He said that is in agreement with 
the joint declaration.

More talk needed

     Though a significant step in doctrinal terms, the joint 
declaration does not mean that there is complete church 
fellowship or even eucharistic hospitality between the two 
traditions. During the weekend's events, Cassidy and Kasper 
stressed that further agreement on the nature of authority, the 
church and ministry was necessary before eucharistic sharing 
could be considered.

     The choice of Augsburg for the signing ceremony was 
particularly significant since it  was there in 1530 that 
followers of Luther presented the Augsburg Confession--a 
statement of Luther's teaching--to Emperor Charles V at an 
imperial gathering called by the emperor in an unsuccessful 
attempt to end the dispute between Protestants and Catholics. The 
city also has a long tradition of religious tolerance, in which 
both Catholics and Protestants have been freely able to practice 
their faith.

     Services on the day of the signing began at Augsburg's Roman 
Catholic Cathedral, after which more than 2,000 people processed 
through the center of Augsburg for the signing ceremony.  At St. 
Anna's Church the congregation included 50 Lutheran and Roman 
Catholic bishops from all continents, leaders of Germany's 
Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox churches, Dr. Konrad Raiser, 
general secretary of the World Council of Churches, and other 
ecumenical guests. Outside, another 2,000 people watched the 
service on a giant television screen in a tent on Augsburg's city 
square.

     Speaking after the ceremony, Kumari, a pastor and theologian 
currently serving as the executive secretary of the United 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in India, stressed the importance of 
the joint declaration for countries like India, where Christians 
are a small minority--2.6 per cent of the population.

     "In a multi-religious and multi-cultural context it is 
essential [for Christians] to speak with one voice," she said, 
pointing out that she was often told by non-Christians: "You 
believe in one God, but you have so many denominations."

Three decades of dialogue

     The LWF has 128 member churches in 70 countries representing 
58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. According to 
the World Churches Handbook, published in London, the Roman 
Catholic Church has more than 900 million members. The signing of 
the joint declaration is the culmination of more than three 
decades of dialogue between the federation and the Roman Catholic 
Church that began soon after the end of the Second Vatican 
Council in 1965.

     Cassidy speaking to journalists in Augsburg before the 
official signing of the declaration, described the document as a 
"fine way of working in dialogue."

     "We have discovered something we didn't realize existed 
before we came to it," he added. Pointing to the results of the 
first Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission  he said 
there had previously been bilateral discussions whose results had 
been officially received by the participating churches. But the 
method adopted in the joint declaration might be a "better way," 
he suggested.

     However, describing the joint declaration as being "very 
much a Lutheran-Roman Catholic document," he played down the idea 
that other confessions might be invited to add their name to the 
agreement declaration.

--Kathryn McCormick is associate director of News and Information 
for the Episcopal Church. This article was compiled from reports 
by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America news service, 
Ecumenical News International and The Washington Post.