Kurt
Cardinal Koch, President Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity; Bishop Munib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation;
Pope Francis; Reverend Martin Junge, General Secretary of the Lutheral
World Federation
In
1517, in Wittenberg (Germany), Martin Luther manifested his opposition
to the prevailing practice of selling indulgences in the Western Church.
On 31 October 2016, Lutheran and Catholics co-hosted for the first time
in history a joint commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in the Cathedral of Lund (Sweden).
This became possible after the important decisions taken at the
Second Vatican Council in its decree “Unitatis redintegratio” on
ecumenism, which inaugurated a bilateral theological between the Roman
Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation, which has been
conducted over the last 50 years.
A joint report was produced by the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity called “From Conflict to Communion”⇒.
It tells the history of the Reformation from a joint perspective,
analyses the theological topics under dispute, and identifies those
differences that today can be regarded as overcome because of dialogue
and a common understanding.
The joint commemoration was presided by Pope Francis and the
President of the Lutheran World Federation, Bishop Munib Younan. It was
structured around thanksgiving, repentance and a commitment to joint
witness and service. The culminating point was the signature of a Joint
Statement by Pope Francis and Bishop Younan.
It is important to emphasise that the report has not restored
intercommunion between the two confessions. Therefore, there was no
common celebration of the Eucharist at this commemoration.
A public event was also organised in the evening of the same day at
the Arena of Malmö which emphasised the commitment of the two
confessions to common witness and service. It culminated by the
signature of an agreement of cooperation between the Lutheran World
Federation World Service and Caritas Internationalis.
Representative of other Christian Confessions also attended this
Ecumenical commemoration of the Reformation. The Ecumenical Patriarchate
was represented by HE Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and Scandinavia,
and by HE Archbishop Job of Telmessos, Permanent Representative of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate to the WCC.