11.01.2002
LWF President, Roman Catholic Bishop Caution against Ecumenical Egalitarianism
Call for Open Dialogue that Recognizes Confessional IdentitiesWOLFENBÜTTEL/HILDESHEIM, Germany/GENEVA 11 January 2002 – The President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop Dr. Christian Krause, and Roman Catholic Bishop Josef Homeyer of Hildesheim, Germany have advocated honest and open dialogue that takes seriously the confessional identities of the respective parties.
Speaking at a January 8 joint consultation at the Wolfenbüttel premises of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick of which Krause is bishop, the church leaders warned against ecumenical egalitarianism or “leveling down” of identities.
Genuine progress in Protestant-Roman Catholic dialogue, they stated, can only be realized by pursuing the truth. They expressed the need to see the doctrine of justification formulated in such a way that it be comprehensible for people in the 21st century.
The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) was signed by the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church on 31 October 1999 in Augsburg, Germany. It deals with one of the most central issues in the sixteenth century doctrinal disputes between Lutherans and Roman Catholics. The JDDJ outlines the respective understandings of the two parties regarding the doctrine of justification by God’s grace through faith in Christ. It also states point by point their common positions on this doctrine. In this way a “differentiated consensus” has been achieved, showing that the remaining differences in its clarification do not give reason for doctrinal condemnations. A follow-up process involves examining the implications of the 1999 agreement and of the doctrine itself for the life of the churches.
Krause pointed out that the question of confessional identity not only arises in Protestant-Roman Catholic dialogue but has also taken on new significance in dialogue among Protestants. According to the Brunswick bishop, Protestant churches have a particular need to discuss anew the meaning of the office of bishop in an ecumenical context.
Both church leaders expressed understanding for the widespread desire of many local churches for greater ecumenical fellowship. Christians must join together, they said, in meeting today’s challenges such as new mission activities in response to people’s longing for religion, or conversations with believers of the Islamic faith.
Oberlandeskirchenrat Peter Kollmar, an executive in the Wolfenbüttel church office asked the Hildesheim diocese representatives to do what they could to enable Protestant Christians to share in the Roman Catholic Eucharist as guests. As a precedent he cited the cooperation between confessions in religious instruction in Niedersachsen.
Besides Homeyer, the Roman Catholic delegation at the consultation included auxiliary Bishops Nikolaus Schwerdtfeger and Hans Georg Koitz; the Provost-elect for Brunswick, Reinhard Heine; Prelate Heinrich Günther from Wolfsburg, and Ecumenical Officer Andreas Renz. Other participants from the Brunswick Lutheran church included Dr. Karla Sichelschmidt, Dr. Robert Fischer and Cornelius Hahn.
Krause, who turned 62 on January 6 announced last May his intention to retire early from the bishop’s office to which he was elected for life in 1996. His successor bishop-elect Dr. Friedrich Weber is expected to take up his new position this spring. Krause continues as LWF President, to which he was appointed at the Federation’s Ninth Assembly in Hong Kong, China in 1997. The 450,00-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick joined the LWF in 1947.
(By Michael Strauss, Press Officer, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick)
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