Catholic misgivings over Lutheran emphasis in papal visit to Scandinavia

The president of the Nordic Bishops’ Conference has complained about a lack of consultation on the Pope’s planned October pilgrimage to Scandinavia, and cautioned that local Catholics will show little interest if the event is limited to commemorating the Reformation with Lutherans, writes Jonathan Luxmoore.

“Many questions still surround this visit and little information has been provided,” said Bishop Czeslaw Kozon of Copenhagen. “Although it will centre on an ecumenical meeting, Catholics hope to have a separate programme with the Holy Father. People will come for the Pope but hardly notice a Reformation memorial service.” The one-day papal visit will be devoted to contacts with Lutheran World Federation members in the Swedish city of Lund.
The church leader made his comments after a conference plenary at Klosterneuburg in Austria, attended by Catholic bishops from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Bishop Kozon said Catholic teaching had attracted great interest at a time when Scandinavia’s Lutheran Churches had adopted “very liberal positions” on marriage and family life.