23.01.2004
LWF Vice-President Bishop Huovinen Calls for Deepening of Consensus Reached in the Joint Declaration
Pope appreciates ecumenical progress between Lutherans and CatholicsVATICAN CITY/GENEVA, 23 January 2004 (LWI) - Finnish bishop, Dr. Eero Huovinen, has called for a deepening of the consensus reached in 1999 with the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). It is also necessary to broaden the consensus to cover the questions that remain open, said the Helsinki diocese bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in his greeting to Pope John Paul II on Monday, 19 January, at the Vatican. Huovinen has been the LWF vice-president for the LWF Nordic Countries region since August 2003.
It was the "fervent hope" of many Christians that the rapprochement between the Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran churches based on the JDDJ would continue, Huovinen stressed. In this connection, he referred to the fifth anniversary of the signing of the JDDJ, which will be celebrated this year. On 31 October 1999 in Augsburg (Germany), representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation confirmed a consensus on the basic truths of the doctrine of justification.
The "sincere desire for visible unity and for a shared Eucharist" demanded a patient, deeper advance into the roots of our common Christian faith, the LWF vice-president said. Huovinen was leading a Finnish ecumenical delegation received by Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the feast of St Henrik and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Henrik, originally from England, was the first bishop of Finland in the twelfth century and is patron saint of the Lutheran church in Finland.
During the reception with the Finnish delegation, Pope John Paul II expressed his gratitude for the ecumenical progress made between Catholics and Lutherans in the five years since the signing of the JDDJ. He expressed hope that Lutherans and Catholics "will increasingly practice a spirituality of communion." This spirituality, he said, draws on elements of ecclesial life which both already share, and which strengthen their fellowship in prayer and witness to the Gospel.
Pope John Paul II acknowledged as a "promising sign" of progress on the path "to full and visible unity" the establishment of a new dialogue group between Lutherans and Catholics in Finland and Sweden.
Previously, on Sunday 18 January, Huovinen participated in the opening service of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity led by Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. This year's ecumenical Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, from 18-25 January, is based on the theme "My peace I give to you" (John 14.27). (450 words)
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