Examine Reformation’s failures, says Koch

Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has called on Lutherans to recognise the failures of the Reformation, as well as the failures of the Catholic Church at the time, writes Christa Pongratz-Lippitt.

In his opening address at a symposium on “Luther, Catholicity and Reform” at the Augustinian Monastery at Erfurt from 21-24 September, Cardinal Koch said Luther had above all wanted a “sweeping reform of the entire Church”. “The true success of the Reformation cannot be expected until the schisms that have been handed down to us have been overcome,” Cardinal Koch explained, referring to the fact that Luther wished to reform the Church and not to found a new one.

“If, in view of the upcoming [2017] anniversary of the Reformation, we can muster up the courage to confront the historical conflicts and the burdens they have left us with together, then it will be possible to commemorate the Reformation ecumenically in a credible way,” he said.