Ahead of Pope Francis’ coming trip to Sweden to commemorate the 500th
anniversary of the Reformation, Catholic and Lutheran leaders have said
that while there is still a long way to go toward unity, seemingly
impossible steps have already been made.
Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting
Christian Unity, told journalists Oct. 26 that the coming joint
commemoration of the Reformation marks “the first time in the history
between Catholic and Lutherans that they do this type of common
commemoration.”
“In the past we’ve had confessional centenaries with a tone that was a
bit triumphalist and polemic on both sides,” he said, explaining that
the goal now is to not only to join together for the anniversary, but
also to recognize 50 years of Catholic-Lutheran dialogue.
The dialogue between Lutherans and Catholics “was the first bilateral
dialogue that the Catholic Church launched right after the Council in
1967, and this is also a sign of gratitude that we could discover all
there is in common between Lutherans and Catholics,” the cardinal said.
He said the joint commemoration of the Reformation is “a beautiful
sign of this path to unity, from conflict to unity. In the past we had
conflicts. We want to arrive at communion, and today we are on the path
to unity.”
Echoing his sentiments was Martin Junge, Secretary General of the
Lutheran World Foundation (LWF), who noted that despite the turbulent
past of Lutherans and Catholics, “we have been able to remove some of
the obstacles of doctrinal differences among us.”
The joint commemoration is a sign of the progress made, he said,
adding that “this is for what we will be praying: for God to be with us,
this is where we want to encourage our communities to live out that
communion.”
According to the LWF website, the federation is a worldwide communion
of 145 churches from the Lutheran tradition which represents more than
74 million Christians in 98 countries.
The largest Lutheran communion,
in the United States it does include the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, but neither the Missouri nor the Wisconsin Synods.
Cardinal Koch and Junge spoke to journalists at a news briefing ahead of Pope Francis’ Oct. 31-Nov. 1 visit to Sweden.
It will be the first time a Pope has traveled to Scandinavia since
St. John Paul II’s 1989 visit. Though only two days, the trip will
include an ecumenical moment of prayer at Lund’s Lutheran cathedral,
which will be followed by the larger, primary ecumenical event at the
Malmö Arena in Malmö.
The two ecumenical events will be followed by an outdoor papal Mass
the next day at the Swedbank Stadium in Malmö marking All Saints Day.
A lengthy document titled “From Conflict to Communion”
was drawn up by the Lutheran-Catholic Commission for Unity and was
published to coincide with the commemoration, serving as the ecumenical
basis for the meeting.
The unprecedented event takes place fewer than 20 years after the LWF's and the Catholic Church's 1999 signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, which was historically one of the main points of division between Catholics and Lutherans.
Justification is God's cleansing human beings of sin and
communicating to them his own righteousness through faith in Christ and
through baptism. It is also the sanctification and renewal of the inner
man through the voluntary reception of the grace and gifts by which man
becomes just.
The understanding of justification – what it is and how it is granted
and maintained – was a source of conflict during the Reformation.
In their 1999 joint declaration on justification, the Catholic Church
and the LWF said that that a more shared understanding of justification
signals “a consensus in the basic truths” and that “the differing
explications in particular statements are compatible with it.”
Point three of the declaration stresses that in “faith we together
hold the conviction that justification is the work of the triune God …
the foundation and presupposition of justification is the incarnation,
death and resurrection of Christ.”
“Justification thus means that Christ himself is our righteousness,
in which we share through the Holy Spirit in accord with the will of the
Father,” they said, confessing together that “by grace alone, in faith
in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are
accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts
while equipping and calling us to good works.”
The declaration also expressed the shared conviction that “as sinners
our new life is solely due to the forgiving and renewing mercy that God
imparts as a gift and we receive in faith, and never can merit in any
way.”
“Therefore the doctrine of justification, which takes up this message
and explicates it, is more than just one part of Christian doctrine,”
but stands “in an essential relation to all truths of faith. It is an
indispensable criterion which constantly serves to orient all the
teaching and practice of our churches to Christ.”
“When Lutherans emphasize the unique significance of this criterion,
they do not deny the interrelation and significance of all truths of
faith. When Catholics see themselves as bound by several criteria, they
do not deny the special function of the message of justification,” the
document continued.
Lutherans and Catholics, then, “share the goal of confessing Christ
in all things, who alone is to be trusted above all things as the one
Mediator through whom God in the Holy Spirit gives himself and pours out
his renewing gifts.”
Critics of the upcoming joint commemoration have voiced concern that
the event will gloss-over significant points of Catholic-Lutheran
difference, and that it will be used to as an opportunity to push for
intercommunion between the Catholic Church and the ecclesial community.
In his comments to journalists, Cardinal Koch, who will be part of
Pope Francis’ delegation, recognized that the issue of mixed marriages
are a “very big pastoral concern for Catholics and Lutherans” alike, but
said we have yet to see what the Pope will say about it.
However, when asked about the issue directly, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke referred to Pope Francis’ Nov. 15, 2015, visit to Rome's Lutheran community.
During the encounter Francis was asked by Anke de Bernardinis, a
Lutheran woman married to a Roman Catholic man, how she and her husband
can be united in communion.
In his response, the Pope said that the answer is “not easy,” but
that that going to each other’s services is a way to participate in the
Lord’s Supper together.
He said he would “never dare to give permission” on anything
regarding Communion because “it's not my competence,” but pointed to the
common baptism shared between Catholic and Lutherans, explaining that
praying together helps keep this common baptism alive.
Burke said that when it comes to Sweden, the Pope likely won’t get
much more explicit on the issue than that, but added, “you never know in
the moment.”
Other concerns about the joint commemoration surround points of
division not only between Lutherans and Catholics, but also within the
global Lutheran community on various social and ethical issues such as
homosexuality and abortion.
However, despite the unresolved issues at stake, Junge stressed that in
the history of Catholic-Lutheran dialogue “we have seen many things that
we thought would be impossible.”
“I believe in the '80s nobody thought we would find agreement on the
doctrine of justification and we did,” he said, adding that “only a few
years ago if you would have said there would be a joint-commemoration of
the Reformation and that would be done together, many would have said
'impossible'.”
Junge pointed to the context of the modern world, saying that while
he doesn’t mean to sound negative or “apocalyptic,” we live in times “of
fragmentation, in times of a world that is wounded by conflict.”
“For Catholics and Lutherans to come together around the world … is a
powerful witness to faith and to Christ who we see walking among us
together,” he said, voicing his belief that the event is “going to
become a great contribution, not only to address the sufferings of the
world, but also to draw closer together in mutual understanding and
trust.”
He said the presence of Pope Francis at the commemorative event is
significant and brings “high value” to what is taking place. However, he
also noted that by attending, Francis “is giving continuity to an
ecumenical path of his predecessors.”
“In 1999, when we signed the join-declaration on justification, the
Pope was John Paul II. In 2003 when we signed the document on the
conflict of communion, the Pope was Benedict XVI, and now Pope Francis
the one who is doing this fruit of this ecumenical path, but undoubtedly
giving it a new profile and potential that we hope to work toward in
the future.”
Despite the significant steps already taken in Catholic-Lutheran
dialogue, Cardinal Koch and Junge expressed that there are still many
more to go.
After finally reaching an agreement on the doctrine of justification,
the next issues to tackle are about “ministry, the Church and the
Eucharist,” Junge said.
Similarly, Cardinal Koch noted how the 1999 common declaration on
justification itself said that “the ecclesial consequences of this
common declaration are not resolved,” so we have a duty to move forward.
“I agree with Rev. Jungle, there are three items: Church, Eucharist
and ministry,” he said, voicing his hope that Catholics and Lutherans
can continue paving the way to a new joint declaration on those three
issues.
“I think we are really on a good path to resolve all these problems,”
the cardinal said, explaining that he is “very hopeful, grateful and
happy that some original dialogues” are taking place on these points.
Speaking of the Pope’s Mass Nov. 1, which was not initially part of
the Pope’s itinerary but was added later upon the request of Catholics
in Sweden, Junge said the LWF is fully aware of the need for the Pope
and the Catholic community to be together.
However, “while we have that understanding, of course it is also
going to reveal that we are not yet united, it is going to reveal a
wound that remains there, and in that way it is going to be a strong
encouragement to continue working toward communion,” he said, explaining
that a delegation from the LWF will be present at the Mass.
Junge voiced his hope that joint commemoration would provide “a
strong encouragement to be faster, to be bolder, to be even more
creative in order to address these three items and with a very strong
focus on where people feel the lack of unity the heaviest, around the
table.”