wfn.org | LWF President:'The future of the church can only be ecumenical'

[FRANKI@elca.org]

Milan's Lutheran-Reformed congregation celebrates 150th anniversary

MILAN, Italy/GENEVA, 2 November 2000 (LWI) - Despite the setbacks caused by
the controversial Vatican declaration "Dominus Iesus" the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) intends to remain in dialogue with the Roman-Catholic
Church.

The LWF president, Bishop Dr. Christian Krause made these remarks at the
150th anniversary celebrations of the Lutheran-Reformed congregation in
Milan, Italy on October 10. Krause stressed that the goal of dialogue
continued to be "unity in reconciled diversity" and not a relapse into
denominationalism and a harping on old differences.

"I am convinced," stated the LWF president, "that the future of the church
in the new millennium can only be ecumenical." In his criticism of the
Declaration "Dominus Iesus", published in early September by the Roman
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Krause said the assertion that
the Catholic Church is the only church of Christ is not consistent with the
"spirit of Augsburg" that characterized the signing of the Joint Declaration
on the Doctrine of Justification (JD) on 31 October 1999.

The bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick, Germany stressed
that in the Joint Declaration the LWF and the Vatican had agreed on a
"consensus in basic truths" and that both parties had been equal partners in
signing the document. It was not conducive to a common understanding of the
Gospel, said Krause, if the Catholic Church wanted to lay down the criteria
for being a church for its ecumenical partners. Dialogue had yet to be
conducted on precisely this issue.

The LWF president said the signing of the Joint Declaration a year ago
aroused world wide interest, showing that this was "a course that people
approve and which very many want to see continued." Krause also clearly
welcomed the positive aspects of "Dominus Iesus" like the emphasis on
witnessing to Jesus Christ as a basis for intra-religious dialogue.

In Germany in particular, the hope for a community of life was particularly
vital, said Krause, since it was probably the only country in the world in
which Protestant and Roman-Catholic Christians constituted respectively
about a third of the population and had almost equal membership figures. He
added that it was time the Roman-Catholic Church extended eucharistic
hospitality to other Christians as the Protestant church in Germany has been
doing for years.

The Milan Lutheran-Reformed congregation is a member of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Italy (CELI). CELI, which joined the LWF in 1949,
currently has 7,000 members and about 13,000 affiliated members. It is
officially recognised by the Italian state and participates in the Italian
church tax procedure.

When several hundred Christians elected the first chairperson of Milan's
Lutheran-Reformed congregation on 10 October 1850 the event was subjected to
strict government regulations. The first parish pastor came from Chur, and
had to be fluent in French, German and Italian. Parishioners were mostly
Swiss and German Protestants living in Lombardy, at the time occupied by
Austria. The congregation put up its own church building, still in use, in
1864. With more and more Italians attending, the congregation can now be
considered bilingual and "transnational". It has about 1,000 members and an
association of friends numbering about 3,000, including Catholic spouses.
This makes it the biggest Lutheran congregation in predominantly
Roman-Catholic Italy.

During a visit to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana Bishop Krause suggested that an
academic exchange be established between this Milan library and the Herzog
August Bibliothek (Duke Augustus Library) in Wolfenbnttel, Germany.

(This article is based on contributions from epd - Evangelische
Pressedienst.)

(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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