Global Ecumenical Partners Affirm Commitment to Dialogues with Lutherans

Mennonites, Methodists, Pentecostals and Roman Catholics Greet LWF Council

Council Press Release No. 14/2012 –Representatives of global Christian bodies that have bilateral relations with The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) praised the LWF’s commitment to ecumenical dialogues and to reconciliation.

Greeting participants at the 15-20 June LWF Council meeting in the Colombian capital Bogotá, Mennonite World Conference (MWC) General Secretary César Garcia praised the LWF for its reconciliation with the Anabaptist communities, stating that the ongoing Lutheran-Mennonite dialogue had practical implications “that we are just beginning to discern.”

“You have showed the world that healing and reconciliation are possible. You have practiced the ministry of reconciliation and evidenced that forgiveness and new beginnings are available in God’s presence,” Garcia said, referring to the LWF’s July 2010 historic step of asking the Mennonites for forgiveness for past persecutions.

The Mennonite leader stated that the MWC General Council had recently mandated its Faith and Life Commission to follow up on commitments to live out the reconciliation.

Overcoming division within the Christian family is essential to ensuring the saving message of Christ continues to be heard in the 21st century, said Vatican representative Monsignor Dr Matthias Türk.

“Many people today are concerned by the central question about God and redemption. This is the most important ground for an authentic Christian witness towards the world and society, and also a challenge of seeking full, visible church unity,” said Türk on behalf of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

While noting that the Lutheran communion will mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, he reminded the Council of the importance of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the dialogue between the Vatican and the LWF to be celebrated the same year. It “can give us the confidence to courageously take further steps towards Christian unity together,” the Vatican official said, as he underlined focus “not just on the differences that have not yet been overcome but rather on what common ground has already been achieved.”

Rev. Levy Bastos of the World Methodist Council said the theme of the LWF meeting, “Together for a just, peaceful and reconciled world,” offered a clear vision of the Lutheran spirit and drive for peace and justice, which in the Latin American context had inspired work for democracy and social justice in the last three decades.

In a greeting read to the Council, Jean-Daniel Plüss, co-chairperson of the Lutheran-Pentecostal Study Group 2004-2010, expressed confidence that an official dialogue between Lutherans and Pentecostals would be a blessing for both communities.

He emphasized the “great interest” and commitment expressed by Pentecostal churches to continue the bilateral conversations on an official level, adding, “We live in a world where we do not have the luxury to neglect each other as the tasks at hand are so great and the needs are so real.”

(483 words)