Episcopal Press and News
482 Years After Luther's Protest, Lutherans and Catholics Reach Agreement
Episcopal News Service. November 18, 1999 [99-170]
(ENS) On October 31, 482 years to the day after Martin Luther nailed on a church door his list of 95 theses, thus launching the Lutheran Reformation, Lutherans and Roman Catholics solemnly declared that mutual condemnations from the Reformation era no longer apply.
Before a congregation of 750 church leaders and journalists that filled St. Anna's Lutheran Church in Augsburg, Germany, Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Lutheran Bishop Christian Krause, president of the Lutheran World Federation, signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.
According to the document, there is now "a consensus in basic truths" between Lutherans and Catholics on the doctrine of justification -- one of the most contentious issues that divided Luther and his followers from the papacy. As a result the "mutual doctrinal condemnations do not apply to the teaching of the dialogue partners as presented in the joint declaration."
Spontaneous applause broke out in the church as Dr. Ishmael Noko, the LWF's general secretary, and Bishop Walter Kasper, secretary of the Pontifical Council, embraced after adding their signatures to the document.
As the applause continued, the LWF's treasurer, Dr. Sigrun Mogedal of the Church of Norway, as well as the LWF's five vice-presidents -- H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Parmata Abusu Ishaya, a member of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria; Dr. Prasanna Kumari, executive secretary of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of India; Dr. Julius Filo, bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic, and Huberto Kirchheim, president of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil -- added their signatures to the document.
"We are witnessing a significant day in the history of our churches. For the first time in centuries, here in Augsburg, we are again setting foot on common ground," Krause told the congregation in his sermon. "Antagonism and frequently even enmity between our churches have been the source of conflicts, distress and suffering for many people, in many countries on this earth. May God give us new strength for reconciliation and the courage to seek peace."
In his sermon, Cassidy said, "We have succeeded in bringing here today a document that takes forward in a significant way the work of restoration of unity among the followers of Christ."
Pope John Paul II issued a statement in Rome immediately after the signing, describing the agreement as a "milestone on the not always easy road towards the restoration of full unity between Christians."
After the service, Anderson, who was a negotiator of the agreement as well as a signer, commented, "This is a critical breakthrough. It's the first major step toward reconciliation between the two churches since the Reformation. Now we understand we have creeds in common, and that removes the taint of heresy from both sides.
"It's the difference between handling each other as if we were prickly sea urchins, and being able to shake hands."
The doctrine of justification -- that people are saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, and have not done anything on their own to become "right with God" -- stood at the core of many disputes between Lutherans and Roman Catholics since the 16th century.
The role of "good works" or "Christian living" is a related issue that Lutherans and Roman Catholics now say is "not church-dividing." Roman Catholics hold that good works contribute to growth in grace and that a reward in heaven is promised to these works, according to the declaration. Lutherans emphasize that justification is complete in Christ's saving work and that Christian living is a sign of unmerited love. Luther wrote his 95 theses in protest against the Roman Catholic Church, including the church's sale of indulgences, letters replacing punishment for the sins of repentant Christians.
Reporters asked Cassidy during a pre-service press conference if the pope's issuing a new Manual of Indulgences for the year 2000, in which Roman Catholics will be able to earn indulgences by visiting various historic sites during the church's "year of jubilee," contradicted the teachings described in the joint declaration. Cassidy said the pope put the indulgences in their proper place; indulgences come only from God and only after justification. He said that is in agreement with the joint declaration.
Though a significant step in doctrinal terms, the joint declaration does not mean that there is complete church fellowship or even eucharistic hospitality between the two traditions. During the weekend's events, Cassidy and Kasper stressed that further agreement on the nature of authority, the church and ministry was necessary before eucharistic sharing could be considered.
The choice of Augsburg for the signing ceremony was particularly significant since it was there in 1530 that followers of Luther presented the Augsburg Confession -- a statement of Luther's teaching -- to Emperor Charles V at an imperial gathering called by the emperor in an unsuccessful attempt to end the dispute between Protestants and Catholics. The city also has a long tradition of religious tolerance, in which both Catholics and Protestants have been freely able to practice their faith.
Services on the day of the signing began at Augsburg's Roman Catholic Cathedral, after which more than 2,000 people processed through the center of Augsburg for the signing ceremony. At St. Anna's Church the congregation included 50 Lutheran and Roman Catholic bishops from all continents, leaders of Germany's Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox churches, Dr. Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, and other ecumenical guests. Outside, another 2,000 people watched the service on a giant television screen in a tent on Augsburg's city square.
Speaking after the ceremony, Kumari, a pastor and theologian currently serving as the executive secretary of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India, stressed the importance of the joint declaration for countries like India, where Christians are a small minority -- 2.6 per cent of the population.
"In a multi-religious and multi-cultural context it is essential [for Christians] to speak with one voice," she said, pointing out that she was often told by non-Christians: "You believe in one God, but you have so many denominations."
The LWF has 128 member churches in 70 countries representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. According to the World Churches Handbook, published in London, the Roman Catholic Church has more than 900 million members. The signing of the joint declaration is the culmination of more than three decades of dialogue between the federation and the Roman Catholic Church that began soon after the end of the Second Vatican Council in 1965.
Cassidy speaking to journalists in Augsburg before the official signing of the declaration, described the document as a "fine way of working in dialogue."
"We have discovered something we didn't realize existed before we came to it," he added. Pointing to the results of the first Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission he said there had previously been bilateral discussions whose results had been officially received by the participating churches. But the method adopted in the joint declaration might be a "better way," he suggested.
However, describing the joint declaration as being "very much a Lutheran-Roman Catholic document," he played down the idea that other confessions might be invited to add their name to the agreement declaration.
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