wfn.org | Slovaks on ecumenical pilgrimage to Rome

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

Pope stresses churches' role in social, political life

BRATISLAVA, Slovak Republic/GENEVA, 1 March 2000 (lwi) - At the
invitation of State President Rudolf Schuster, several senior
representatives of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in
the Slovak Republic (ECAC-S) were recently among participants in an
official visit to Rome, making Slovakia the first among nations which
will make a pilgrimage to the Vatican in the Jubilee Year 2000.

According to the ECAC-S press department, officials of the eight-member
Ecumenical Council of Churches of Slovakia (ECC-SR) were also among
those accompanying President Schuster on the 15 February visit. The
council is made up of the ECAC-S, Orthodox Church, Reformed Christian
Church, Brotherly Union of Baptists, Old Catholic Church (sometimes
referred to as "Polish National Church"), Evangelical Methodist Church,
Czechoslovak Hussite Church, and the Church of the Brethren. The Roman
Catholic Church and the Apostolic Church, both of which were represented
on the pilgrimage, have observer status in the national body.

The historic first visit to the Vatican was a gesture of good will and
concentrated on that which Christian churches have in common -- the love
of Jesus Christ. The one-day official visit took place in the spirit of
mutual understanding and reconciliation, a message that President
Schuster has been promoting since his New Year's speech on the same
theme.

During the Pope's audience with the official delegation and over 5,000
Slovak Roman Catholics, Slovak Cardinal Jozef Tomko praised the
participation of the members of the ecumenical council and the
ecumenical collaboration that led to the event. Out of a total
population of some 5.3 million people, there are 2.5 million Roman
Catholics in the country.

President Schuster thanked the Pope for his many years of ecumenical
effort, which led to the signing by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
and Roman Catholic Church of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification on 31 October 1999 in Augsburg, Germany. During his
speech, the state president also named the churches participating in the
delegation and personally introduced the ECAC-S Bishop Julius Filo. The
Lutheran church leader also serves as president of the Slovak ecumenical
council and is one of the vice-presidents of the LWF.

In his remarks, the Pope praised the presence of the ecumenical
delegation and expressed his conviction that churches have a major role
to play in calming the societal and political situation in the Slovak
Republic. In conclusion, he blessed the pilgrims and encouraged them to
continue in ecumenical collaboration.

After attending a mass conducted according to the Greek Orthodox rite at
the Cathedral Santa Maria Maggiore, the official delegation participated
in a worship service at the German Lutheran congregation of Christus
Kirche in downtown Rome, where they were greeted by the synod president
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy (ELCI), Baerbel Naeve.

The dean of the ELCI, Juergen Astfalk, received the delegation with the
words: "You have come to Rome with the desire for reconciliation.
Reconciliation is peace and that is why it is necessary for existence.
Blessed are those who wish to reconcile others even though they remain
in the position of petitioner and their work has only relative results."

President Schuster also spoke at the gathering. He described the visit
of the delegation to the Lutheran church in Roman Catholic Rome as the
best expression of the message of reconciliation in the context of the
national pilgrimage.

Bishop Filo addressed the group at the end of the short service, and
gave his blessing.

The delegation was made up of a group of about 70 politicians,
representatives of the Roman Catholic Church as well as officials of the
ECC-SR member churches.

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing nearly 59.5 million of the world's 63.1 million Lutherans.
Its highest decision-making body is the Assembly held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council,
which meets annually, and by its Executive Committee. The LWF
secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

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