wfn.org | Signing of "Joint Declaration" significant for ecumenical movement

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Announcement made ahead of LWF Council meeting

GENEVA, 14 June 1999 (lwi) - That the Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
and the Roman Catholic Church will sign the Joint Declaration on the
Doctrine of Justification on 31 October 1999 in Augsburg in the Federal
Republic of Germany, is not just significant for the two communions but
also for the ecumenical movement worldwide.

For the LWF, the news about the date and place of signing of the "Joint
Declaration" comes slightly over a week before (22 to 29 June) the LWF
Council meets in Bratislava in the Slovak Republic.

The announcement made at the Ecumenical Center on June 11 1999 during a
joint press conference by the LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr. Ishmael
Noko and the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity, His Eminence Edward Idris Cardinal Cassidy, is of historic
importance not only because it represents the significant fruition of a
30-year process of bilateral theological dialogue between the LWF and
the Roman Catholic Church but because this is the first time ever that a
declaration has been made officially and jointly by the respective
communions.

In effect this means that a consensus in basic truths regarding the
doctrine of justification has been reached and the mutual doctrinal
condemnations from the time of the Reformation concerning the doctrine
of justification do not apply to the teaching on justification as set
forth in the "Joint Declaration."

By confirming the act of signing the "Joint Declaration" in its
entirety, the Catholics and the Lutherans confirm their common belief
that justification takes place by God's grace through faith alone.
Therefore the Lutherans and Catholics can together understand the
Christian as justified before God and as sinner at the same time.

The doctrine of justification is a measure or touchstone for the
Christian faith. Both partners in dialogue are committed to continued
and deepened study of the biblical foundations of the doctrine of
justification with the aim to reach full church communion, a unity in
diversity, in which remaining differences would be reconciled and no
longer have a divisive force

The LWF general secretary officially presented the documents which will
be used in the action of signing namely the "Official Common Statement"
and the "Annex" to the Statement.

The "Official Common Statement" reflects the significance of the 'Joint
Declaration' as expressed in 'Joint Declaration' itself and affirmed by
a resolution of the LWF Council in June 1998. The 'Statement' also
clarifies the ecumenical significance of the "Joint Declaration" in a
way which is in good keeping with a Lutheran ecumenical perspective.
As for the "Annex", it clarifies the relevant matters in such a way that
it is now possible also for the Roman Catholic Church to state
unconditionally that the condemnations of the Council of Trent do not
apply to the Lutheran teaching on justification as expressed in the
"Joint Declaration".

Delivering his statement at the press conference, Noko said the date of
signing the "Joint Declaration" - 31 October, which is annually
celebrated as "Reformation Day" in the various Protestant churches - is
significant for Lutherans because it underlines the understanding of the
Reformation itself as a movement not aimed at creating division within
the church of Christ, but aimed at reforming the one church in certain
areas.

The LWF general secretary in his address responded to the question - Who
has given up most in this project, the Lutherans or the Roman Catholics?
- as follows: "These days we appear not to understand that a victory can
be won without either of the parties ceding to the other. The process of
the 'Joint Declaration' has not had this competitive character. Rather,
it has been a process of reconciliation based on the common heritage we
share: the biblical witness of God's righteousness, in other words, His
free grace given to us in Christ."

Noko pointed out that the "Joint Declaration" has been developed in an
ecumenical climate different from the rather distant relationships that
had existed up until the present dialogue and other bilateral dialogues
begun after the Second Vatican Council. The "Joint Declaration" will
itself contribute further to the improvement of the ecumenical climate,
and it is to be hoped that it will have positive repercussions
throughout the whole Christian family, he said.

For example, if a strengthened spirit of reconciliation were to follow
from the theological rapprochement made by the Lutherans and the
Catholic Church, "our churches would increasingly become agents for
peace, so needed at a time when instruments of reconciliation are in
such short supply," he explained.

The stated aim of the 'Joint Declaration' is to reach "full church
communion, a unity in diversity, in which the remaining differences
would be 'reconciled' and no longer have a divisive force", the LWF
general secretary added.

Noko also paid tribute to all those who in the course of the
Catholic-Lutheran project have contributed in various ways to make the
"Joint Declaration" possible. These included "lay women and men,
pastors, priests, catechists and youth leaders in all regions of the
world, who for years, often with holy impatience, have courageously
practiced ecumenical reconciliation on the local level, thereby giving
momentum to the rapprochement of our two communions."

Addressing the press conference, Cardinal Cassidy said the 11 June 1999
event was a "joyful moment". He described the "Joint Declaration" as one
of the greatest acquisitions of the ecumenical movement. On the
'Official Common Statement' and the 'Annex' - which will be used for
signing - he said these documents, much like the 'Joint Declaration'
itself, are based "not on compromise but on truth and reconciliation."

However, he added, "we do not claim that we have finished our work on
the 'Joint Declaration' but we now have a more solid basis on which to
go ahead."

On the basis of responses from its member churches, the last LWF Council
meeting in Geneva affirmed the Joint Declaration on 16 June 1998. And on
25 June 1998 the Roman Catholic Church gave its response to the same
Declaration. However, at that time it was clear that the two dialogue
partners had not affirmed the Joint Declaration in the same way.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/