wfn.org | Cardinal Kasper "Would Have Wished for Different Tone" in Dominus Iesus

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Joint Declaration an Important Step Toward Visible Unity of Church

BERNE, Switzerland/GENEVA, 7 November 2001 (LWI) - Roman Catholic
Walter Cardinal Kasper has cautiously distanced himself from certain
assertions in the Vatican statement Dominus Iesus, which has caused
controversy among Protestants.

The churches of the Reformation are also churches, though of another
type, said Kasper, who is President of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity, in an October 29 speech in Berne,
Switzerland. However, it must be clear, the Cardinal added, that the
Protestant churches have an understanding of themselves as churches
which does not correspond to the self-understanding of the Roman
Catholic Church.

According to the Dominus Iesus statement, which was published last
year by the Roman Catholic Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, the churches of the Reformation are not churches in the true
sense of the word, but just ecclesial communities.

The Vatican statement, published in September 2000, one month to the
first anniversary of the signing of the Joint Declaration on the
Doctrine of Justification (JD) by the Roman Catholic Church and the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF), caused indignation and
disappointment among Protestant Christians. "I know that Dominus
Iesus was, to say the least, felt to be unfriendly towards non-Roman
Catholic Christians, and offended them deeply," Kasper told a two-day
conference of Swiss Protestant and Roman Catholic churches on the JD.
"I myself would have wished for a different tone and different
language to be used."

Kasper considers the JD, signed by LWF and Vatican representatives on
31 October 1999 in Augsburg, Germany, an important step towards the
visible unity of the church. Nevertheless he feels that at the
present time it is not yet possible for Christians in the divided
churches to share the Eucharist.

"But the Spirit of God has begun the work of unity and will bring it
to completion," the Cardinal stressed. This could come in a
surprising way, just as did the fall of the Berlin Wall. According to
the doctrine of justification as taught by Reformation leader Martin
Luther, God accepts human beings by grace alone through faith, and
not through good works or merit. This doctrine was the starting-point
for the 16th century division of the churches.

Protestant theologian Eberhard Juengel, University of Tuebingen,
advocates that Christians on both sides of the divide take a good
look at the "considerable confessional differences" which still
exist, in their unembellished reality. Every responsible theological
effort will then be made, he said, to improve the concrete relations
among the churches, and to accept provocation to enter into fruitful
and creative dispute. "Not every factual difference requires
opposition," Juengel emphasized; there are also differences which
must be tolerated as part of the riches of Christianity.

(From an Evangelischer Pressedienst -epd- [Protestant Press Service]
report)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 133
member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5 million of the
64.3 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
acknowledgment.]

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