wfn.org | LWI 2009-064 Call for a Spiritual Ecumenism at Joint Declaration's Tenth Anniversary

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Call for a Spiritual Ecumenism at Joint Declaration's Tenth
Anniversary
LWF General Secretary Noko Says Walls of Separation Are Broken
Down 

AUGSBURG, Germany/GENEVA, 31 October 2009 (LWI) - Celebrations
in Augsburg, Germany, marking the tenth anniversary of the
signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
(JDDJ) ended today with a festive ecumenical service. Methodists,
Lutherans and Roman Catholics underlined how much had been
achieved in ecumenical dialogue over the past ten years.

In his sermon in the Augsburg Cathedral, the President of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) Walter
Cardinal Kasper stated that the JDDJ was a sign of the workings
of the Holy Spirit. "We cannot be thankful enough for that and
for many, many other steps that have been possible since. The
godless complaining about the supposed standstill in the
ecumenical movement and the miserable moaning about what has not
yet been achieved, forgetting all that has been given us in the
last few years  - all that is sheer ingratitude," he asserted.
"We need a spiritual ecumenism, and it has grown, thank goodness,
in the last few years." Kasper's closing words were: "Ultimately,
ecumenism is not an end in itself: it aims to go beyond itself
toward reconciliation, unity and world peace. Let us thus be the
vanguard and precursors of this unity and this peace."

The second preacher at the festive ecumenical service, Rev. Dr
Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF), evoked "our sharing in [God's] mission through the power
of the Holy Spirit." This enables Christians "to overcome the
ever-present forces of division in church and in society. It
helps us to seek responsible ways of reducing the enemy images
that isolate and separate us from the gift of communion with God
and with one another." Noko went on to say that, "As citizens of
Christ’s kingdom rooted in God's forgiveness we are brought
into life in communion with God in Christ and with one another.
Walls of separation, isolation and imprisonment are broken down."
Both Noko and Kasper were among the JDDJ signatories on 31
October 1999. 

In his greeting, Augsburg's Roman Catholic Bishop Dr Walter
Mixa, praised what had been achieved, expressing his conviction
that, "The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification is
a milestone on this path of growing consensus. A milestone is an
important marker but not the goal. To be honest, we have to admit
that we still have a long way to go until all differences in
faith have been worked through. Let's get moving. Today is also
an opportunity to pray: Ut unum sint."

Earlier, on Saturday morning, Dr Walter Klaiber, former bishop
of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Germany and Karl Cardinal
Lehmann, former chairperson the German Bishops' Conference, paid
tribute to the Joint Declaration. 

In his paper, Klaiber underscored the timeless significance of
the message of justification. "It frees people from the
destructive compulsion to have to justify their own lives through
success, performance or possessions, and from the fatal despair
of thinking that for lack of such self-justification, their life
is a failure and without value and meaning," he said. Klaiber
stressed, "We must thus spell out - with the successful and the
unsuccessful, with the self-satisfied and those doubting and
despairing of themselves - what God's Yes to their life means for
them: liberation for a dignified life that does not lie in the
'product' of our action or fail for lack of achievement, but is
founded in God’s love." The Methodist World Council affirmed
the JDDJ in 2006.

Cardinal Lehmann emphasized the need to continue the ecumenical
dialogue on the basis of the JDDJ. "Even if open questions still
remain, the Joint Declaration is a very important step by the two
churches toward removing the tension from the divisive core area
when it comes to the way the churches understand the message of
justification. The wording 'consensus in basic truths of the
doctrine of justification' aptly describes the present [state]:
it is a genuine agreement in basic truths of the doctrine of
justification, not a consensus covering all issues," affirmed
Lehmann. 

There were still a few areas deserving further attention in the
future ecumenical conversations. In Augsburg, Lehmann expressed
his regret that in some respects the JDDJ had so far not led any
further, "because it has not been further deepened, implemented
and thus made spiritually fruitful. It must thus become the sign
of a new beginning. Then it can become even more fruitful in the
coming and ongoing ecumenical dialogues, particularly on the
urgent topic of the Church and justification."

The anniversary celebrations began on Friday evening, 30
October, with a festive hour in the Golden Hall of Augsburg town
hall, during which, the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Germany (VELKD) Presiding Bishop Dr Johannes Friedrich said
decades of patient dialogue between Lutherans and Roman Catholics
had paid off with respect to the Joint Declaration. 

Augsburg's Lord Mayor Dr Kurt Gribl praised the JDDJ as a
"historic document" marking an "ecumenical milestone" in church
history. The keynote lecture by Prof. em. Dr Eberhard Juengel
(Tuebingen) was titled "What Does Our Happiness Have to Do with
Our Blessedness?" (864 words)

For further information on the JDDJ see the LWF Web site at:
www.lutheranworld.org 

*      *      *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 140 member churches in 79 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of 68.9 million. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

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