wfn.org | Joint Declaration has helped deepen Catholic/Protestant relations in France

[FRANKI@elca.org]

Local initiatives have looked into consequences of JD

STRASBOURG, France/GENEVA, 31 October 2000 (LWI) - The signing of the Joint
Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JD) in Augsburg, Germany last
year, has contributed to the deepening of relations between Roman Catholics
and Protestants in Alsace and Lorraine, France.

In many other places, conferences and discussions have attempted to evaluate
the significance of the Lutheran/Roman Catholic JD and to reflect on its
consequences, according to the head of the Church of the Augsburg Confession
of Alsace and Lorraine (ECAAL) President Marc Lienhard.

In a statement to Lutheran World Information on the first anniversary of the
October 31 signing of the JD, President Lienhard, however, pointed out that
the recent Declaration "Dominus Iesus" by the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith came as a shock for many Protestants as well as Roman
Catholics.

"Now it is important to get down to the task of drawing ecclesiological
conclusions from the Joint Declaration and of showing how, on this basis,
the churches on both sides share in the one Church of Jesus Christ," said
the ECAAL president.

President Lienhard mentioned a series of joint Lutheran/Roman Catholic
events that took place last January in Strasbourg to celebrate the historic
signing of the JD. A special issue of "l'Eglise en Alsace" [the Church in
Alsace] was published to report on these events.

When the LWF general secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko visited ECAAL last
May, President Marc Lienhard posed the question, "When can we have the
Eucharist together?" in view of the JD signing. Noko responded that although
the road toward inter-communion and mutual recognition of ministries would
be long, the trail had already been set by local initiatives.

"The Joint Declaration has certainly had an impact in Alsace-Lorraine but
also, to a lesser extent, in France as a whole," the ECAAL president said in
his statement to LWI.

(The LWF is a global communion of 131 member churches in 72 countries
representing over 59 million of the world's 63 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, normally held every six years.
Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council which meets
annually, and its Executive Committee. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various
aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented does
not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units.
Where the dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material
may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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