Pope Francis welcomed a delegation of leaders from the Lutheran World Federation to the Vatican on Thursday, describing their visit as “an important gesture of ecumenical fraternity.”
Recalling an earlier meeting with Lutherans, in 2021, Pope Francis highlighted the upcoming anniversary of the First Council of Nicea as “an ecumenical event.”
The Nicene Creed “is an ecumenical bond that has its centre in Christ”, the Pope said, quoting the Common Word issued by LWF General Secretary, Reverend Doctor Anne Burghardt (who was present at Thursday’s encounter) and Cardinal Kurt Koch from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity during the Federation’s recent General Assembly in Krakow.
“In this context,” he said, “you rightly recalled a beautiful sign of hope, which has a special place in the history of reconciliation between Catholics and Lutherans.”
Jesus, the ‘heart’ of ecumenism
Pope Francis then turned to the earlier Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, signed 25 years ago, in which Catholics and Lutherans agreed on the common goal of “confessing Christ in all things.”
“Jesus Christ is the heart of ecumenism,” the Pope said. “He is divine mercy incarnate, and our ecumenical mission is to bear witness to this.”
That Declaration is “another sign of hope in our history of reconciliation,” he said, as he invited Catholics and Lutherans to celebrate the anniversary of its signing “as a celebration of hope.”
A dialogue of truth and charity
Then, noting “our common spiritual origin” in “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins” Pope Francis called on Lutherans and Catholics to “confidently continue as pilgrims of hope” in the ongoing dialogue “of truth and charity.”
Concluding his remarks, the Holy Father recalled a story about Orthodox Bishop John Zizioulas, who would say, jokingly, that the union of Christians would be achieved only on the day of Judgment at the end of time.
“But in the meantime,” Pope Francis said still quoting the late Bishop, “we have to walk together: journeying together, praying together, and performing works of charity together.”