LWF President Congratulates Pope Benedict XVI on 80th Birthday
A Ministry of Vision and Friendship
CHICAGO, United States of America/GENEVA, 13 April 2007 (LWI) - In a letter of congratulations to Pope Benedict XVI for his upcoming birthday, the president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop Mark S. Hanson, writes "I pray that your ministry of vision and friendship as Bishop of Rome and primate of the Roman Catholic Church will continue for many years to come." The Pope will celebrate his 80th birthday on Monday, 16 April.
Hanson, who is also presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, notes that the 10th anniversary of the 1999 signing of the historic Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification is only two years away. He expresses his desire that the 2009 celebrations "will take into account the magnitude of this declaration for our communions today and likewise capture the urgency of our work together tomorrow." (156 words)
The full text of the letter follows:
His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI
Vatican City
Your Holiness,
On behalf of the Lutheran World Federation and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, I am greatly pleased to send you birthday greetings today, on the advent of your 80th birthday. I pray that your ministry of vision and friendship as Bishop of Rome and primate of the Roman Catholic Church will continue for many years to come.
I was delighted once more to meet with and hear Walter Cardinal Kasper deliver your congratulatory greeting to the 60th anniversary of the Lutheran World Federation only two weeks ago in Lund, Sweden. Your fine words were important for members of the LWF to hear - our calling of a “common witness” is truly “a gift of the Holy Spirit,” as you stated so well. I want to thank you as well for your reference to the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification between our two communions, and specifically to the call for deeper understanding of the nature of the Church, its sacraments and its ministries. I am reminded that the 10-year celebration of this historic declaration is only two short years away. My desire is that celebrations in 2009 will take into account the magnitude of this declaration for our communions today and likewise capture the urgency of our work together tomorrow.
At the Lutheran World Federation meeting in Lund, I spoke of what it means to be a communion of Lutherans living in the midst of global complexities today. In that meeting I placed the urgency of our time before the members present. I noted that the question for the next 60 years is the same question which brought our forebears together 60 years ago: Where is God leading us now? How do we love and serve our neighbor today? I believe Lutherans and Roman Catholics throughout the world are blessed by these relationships and these essential questions, and I thank God for your leadership at this time.
In God’s Grace,
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
President, The Lutheran World Federation
Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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