Bishops herald Luther as a ‘pathfinder’

Germany’s Catholic Church hopes to achieve closer ties to Protestants during the upcoming 500th anniversary of the Reformation, while admitting its own “guilt and errors” for the past, according to a senior bishop.

“Ecumenism has to be a basic element for Christians – if we confess to belong to one Church, we have to make an effort and pray for restoration of broken unity,” said Bishop Heinz Josef Algermissen of Fulda (right), vice-chairman of the German Church’s Ecumenical Commission.

“This means not only praying together but also meeting the challenge of speaking with one voice as Christians, at a time where we are all challenged by aggressive atheism and secularism, as well as by Islam. Otherwise we will lose more and more ground.”

The 73-year-old Church leader was speaking as the German Bishops’ Conference published a 206-page report conceding that Rome had made mistakes in its handling of the leader of the Reformation, Martin Luther (1483-1546).

In a Tablet interview, he said that Catholic-Lutheran ties had improved since a decree on ecumenism, Unitatis Redinteg­ratio, was issued by the Second Vatican Council in 1964. But he added that much remained to be done.

“We cannot just see this as a jubilee – we must also contemplate our Christian faith and the errors of the past, admitting our guilt and repenting on both sides for the past 500 years,” Bishop Algermissen told The Tablet.

 “The Reformation has not reached its original target of reforming the Church, but has led to division – and this is its tragedy. We must ask ourselves whether it was an event breaking with past tradition, or actually in continuity with universal Church tradition.”

The Pope is to attend a Catholic-Lutheran prayer service at the Protestant cathedral of Lund in southern Sweden on 31 October, marking the start of year-long commemorations of the Reformation, which is traditionally dated from the publication in October 1517 of Luther’s “95 Theses”.

In its report, the German Bishops’ Conference said the Catholic Church had changed its view of the Reformation after having long seen its protagonists “in a negative, derogatory light”. It added that Luther’s work still posed a “theological and spiritual challenge”, and had “ecclesial and political implications for understanding the Church and its Magisterium”. It also said that the reformer, excommunicated by Pope Leo X in 1521 and outlawed by the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, should now be seen as “a religious pathfinder, Gospel witness and teacher of the faith”.

“The Catholic Church may recognise today what was important in the Reformation – namely, that sacred Scripture is the centre and standard for all Christian life,” the bishops said.

Bishop Algermissen told The Tablet that Catholics and Lutherans needed a “spiritual ecumenism”, and should “aim at visible unity, not just reconciled diversity”.

n America’s largest Lutheran denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has approved a declaration stating that it no longer has divisive positions with the Catholic Church on many issues. The “Declaration on the Way” lists 32 statements of ­agreement on ministry affirmed with the US Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.