wfn.org | Cardinal Cassidy: Significant Progress in the Ecumenical Movement

[FRANKI@elca.org]

Churches Urged to Move forward with greater Determination

GENEVA, 5 March 2001 (LWI) - A great deal of progress has been made in the
ecumenical movement, said Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, retiring president
of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), at a dinner
hosted in his honor by the general secretary of the Lutheran World
Federation Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko.

"There can be no going back for the churches," Cardinal Cassidy said in
Geneva on February 26.

Cardinal Cassidy noted that there is still a long way to go before full
communion can be achieved among all Christians, and reminded churches of
their calling to move forward with ever-greater determination, courage and
trust in the Lord "who sends us out."

Cardinal Cassidy, 76, who served as the Council's president from December
1989 until his retirement at the end of 2000, described his 11 years of
leadership at the Vatican ecumenical office as a rewarding and enriching
experience. He said he had been truly blessed "at having been so involved in
the ecumenical movement."

In an interview with Lutheran World Information (LWI), Cardinal Cassidy said
the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification on 31
October 1999 by the LWF and the Vatican was a real sign of the kind of
progress that can be made "if we are ready to dialogue sincerely and look
beyond the expressions of our faith to the substance of the doctrines that
we hold in common."

The Lutheran and Catholic communities, Cardinal Cassidy continued, took up
the Joint Declaration, very widely. "People felt not that we had signed a
document out there" in Augsburg, Germany. Wherever they were Lutherans and
Catholics rejoiced that they had been able to overcome as two great
communions one of the fundamental misunderstandings of the Reformation
period, which pertains up to the present day, he said.

The Australian Cardinal spoke of the character of dialogue in the ecumenical
movement. In the Joint Declaration, Lutherans and Roman Catholics did not
find a compromise. Instead, they came to an agreement by which they were
able to express their common faith according to their respective traditions.
"If we want to have a successful ecumenical dialogue we must be ready to be
able to speak the truth as we see it, feel it, and accept that our partner
speaks the truth as they also see it." "We must seek not to offend or
alienate the partner by the way in which we speak the truth."

Cardinal Cassidy said the remaining issues in the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue
include the question of church ministry and authority, and the Eucharist
which are very important for the life of Christians.

The outgoing PCPCU president was full of praise for the cooperation the
Council has received from the LWF in the past 11 years. For the next year,
he has regular meetings lined up at the Vatican, as well as lectures at
various universities before returning home to Australia.

On March 3, Pope John Paul II appointed German theologian, Cardinal Walter
Kasper to succeed Cardinal Cassidy as president of the Pontifical Council
for Promoting Christian Unity. Cardinal Kasper, 68, who was elevated to
cardinal on February 22, had served as the Council's secretary since March
1999.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 131 member
churches in 72 countries representing over 60.2 million of the nearly 64
million Lutherans worldwide. 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 acknowledgement.]

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