wfn.org | Joint Declaration has improved 'climate between the churches'

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Bavarian bishop speaks on consequences, one year after the JD signing

MUNICH, Germany/GENEVA, 30 October 2000 (LWI) - The solemn
ratification of the Lutheran/Catholic Joint Declaration on the
Doctrine of Justification (JD) on Reformation Day, 31 October 1999,
in Ausgburg has "noticeably improved the climate between the
churches," according to Dr. Johannes Friedrich, the Lutheran bishop
of Bavaria, Germany.

In a statement issued to mark the first anniversary of the
"ecumenical event of the century", Bishop Friedrich, who is also
Officer for Catholic Affairs of the United Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Germany (VELKD) said the JD has had positive effects
globally and was of particular assistance to Lutheran churches in
countries where the majority of the population were Catholics.

The bishop cited the situation of the Lutheran Church in Nicaragua,
which had been recognised as a partner church by the Catholic side
for the first time as a result of the JD. In Bavaria the JD had
contributed to a cordial atmosphere between Roman Catholic and
Evangelical Lutheran Christians and strengthened all those committed
to ecumenism.

The VELKD Officer for Catholic Affairs also said that the ecumenical
path is "irreversible". The reaction in the Roman Catholic Church to
the Vatican statement "Dominus Iesus" (published in September) had
made this clear. "I know of no other statement from Rome in recent
years which-whether voluntarily or involuntarily-has provided such a
positive stimulus for ecumenism as 'Dominus Iesus'," Bishop Friedrich
said.

Many Catholic theologians and bishops had taken the opportunity
provided by the declaration by the Roman Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith to voice strong commitment to ecumenism with
the Lutheran churches-in some cases "so clearly and directly" as
never before.

The bishop recalled that the JD had called for an intensification of
Lutheran/Catholic conversations on the understanding of church,
ministry and the sacraments. This "necessary dialogue" was still in
an initial phase but could link up with the study "Communio
Sanctorum" recently published by a Lutheran/Catholic commission of
theologians.

The full text of the statement by Bishop Dr. J. Friedrich follows:

"The ecumenical path is irreversible"
One year after the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine
of Justification

by Bishop Dr. Johannes Friedrich, Munich, VELKD Officer for Catholic
Affairs

The vast majority of people in Germany were profoundly moved on
October 31st 1999 when the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification (JD) was signed in Augsburg in the form of the Official
Common Statement. Only a minority in the two churches-mainly
anti-ecumenical traditionalists-was upset about this important
ecumenical step. I myself had tears of joy in my eyes. How could one
not be happy to see the desire to overcome the division in the
Western church demonstrated so seriously and convincingly, so
solemnly and cordially, as at the worship service and signing
ceremony in St. Anna's Church?

A number of sceptics raised the question whether it would achieve
anything at all. Or would the signing have no effect? Now one year
has passed -not much compared with 450 years of church division. But
time enough for an initial interim evaluation.

I heard the first really impressive echo about three weeks after the
signing. The synod of our church was meeting and the president of the
Lutheran church in Nicaragua, Victoria Cortez, brought us greetings.
She told us, "Until October 31st 1999 my church was considered a sect
in Nicaragua. But on October 31st, parallel to the signing in
Augsburg, an ecumenical service took place in the cathedral of
Managua. I as a woman and a Lutheran had the privilege of delivering
the sermon at this worship service, which was conducted by a
[Catholic] bishop. Since then, we are no longer considered a sect but
a church." In the meantime, I have heard similar reports from other
countries where Lutherans are a minority.

I had never before been so clearly aware of the ecumenical breadth,
which also constitutes the catholicity of our Lutheran confessional
family, as in that address by the church president. We Germans
engaged in the discussion in much too "German" a way, without
reflecting on how the JD would have global consequences and be an
enormous help to small Lutheran churches in countries where the Roman
Catholic Church predominates. Ecumenical reflection also in
Lutheranism means international reflection.

Only a few weeks later, on the eve of the New Year 2000, the Roman
Catholic archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, invited me
to celebrate an ecumenical worship service with him in the cathedral
and then, after a candle lit procession to the Marienplatz, the main
square in Munich, to join him in asking God's blessing on the city
and the country in the new year, new century and new millennium.
Never before had there been such an invitation from a Roman Catholic
archbishop to the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Bavaria to participate in an act of this kind. The archbishop's
office published a brochure with both our sermons and our photos. The
signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification has
indeed noticeably improved the climate between the churches. The
atmosphere has become cordial. And people notice this. It helps
people who are living in confessionally mixed marriages and families.
It is an encouragement for those who pray for unity.

And then, early in September 2000, came the statement "Dominus Iesus"
by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. I
shall not enter into a critical discussion of it here. There has been
plenty of that everywhere. But I want to refer to an experience,
which I again find profoundly moving.

I know of no other statement from Rome in recent years which-whether
voluntarily or involuntarily-has provided such a positive stimulus
for ecumenism as "Dominus Iesus". Because Roman Catholic theologians
and a large number of bishops have taken the opportunity provided by
this critical statement from Rome to voice strong commitment to
ecumenism with our Lutheran churches. Some of the bishops had never
spoken out so clearly and directly in favour of it before. Roman
Catholic parish councils, educational institutions, academies and the
Central Committee of the German Catholics have expressed themselves
unanimously: "the ecumenical path is irreversible".

We are on the right path. Naturally, we are still in the initial
phase of the necessary dialogues on church, ministry and the
sacraments, which are listed in Article 43 of the Joint Declaration
on the Doctrine of Justification. But the study "Communio Sanctorum"
by the bilateral commission of theologians has already provided a
report on the present state of affairs which offers a variety of
approaches, especially on the issues of scripture - tradition -
magisterium, the papacy, the veneration of saints and "mariology".
The evidence seems to go against the sceptics who prophesied that the
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification would have no
effect.

Munich, October 26th 2000

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