The Apostolicity of the Church: Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission Document
The Apostolicity of the Church is the title of the current study document of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity. With this document, the Commission completes the 1995-2006 fourth phase of the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue at the global level. The study document of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) is aimed at contributing toward deepening communion between the Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran churches. The document has been sent to the respective churches of the mandating bodies and to the wider public of persons and groups engaged in the ecumenical movement.
In the book’s introduction, Commission co-chairpersons Lutheran Bishop Béla Harmati (Hungary) and Roman Catholic Archbishop Alfons Nossol (Poland) state the commission’s hope that the study “will open fresh perspectives in the area of ecumenical ecclesiology and will throw light on pathways along which significant steps may be taken toward the goal of full communion between the Catholic Church and the Lutheran churches of the world.”
The study document points to further steps toward the visible unity of the Lutheran and Catholic churches by treating (1) the New Testament witness as foundational for the apostolicity of the church, (2) the apostolic gospel and the elements of the church’s apostolicity, (3) the apostolicity of the ordained ministry, and (4) ways in which faith and teaching are maintained in the truth of the apostolic gospel.
The Apostolicity of the Church is published by Lutheran University Press (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) under the auspices of the LWF and PCPCU. To order copies, please contact Lutheran University Press, P. O. Box 390759 Minneapolis, MN 55439 or publisher@lutheranUpress.org Price is USD 12 plus postage costs.
For further information, please contact the LWF Office for Ecumenical Affairs, sgr@lutheranworld.org (297 words)
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