The President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, has taken stock of the 500-year Reformation Anniversary in several interviews for the German-speaking media.
“The best ecumenical idea was the German Churches’ decision to celebrate the anniversary as a ‘Feast for Jesus Christ’ ”, Koch said. At the beginning of the preparations 10 years ago, he had had the impression that “everything revolved around Luther, but in the course of the anniversary year itself it was above all about what unites us all, namely the belief in Jesus Christ”.
The climax of the celebrations for him had been the celebration at Lund in Sweden on 31 October 2016 which had been co-celebrated by Pope Francis and the President and General Secretary of the World Lutheran Federation, Revd Martin Junge. “That was a strong ecumenical signal”, Koch emphasised.
Although the Catholic and Lutheran Churches had reached consensus on many matters of faith, the main problem had not been solved, Koch pointed out, namely that they remained divided as far as the aim of ecumenism was concerned. While Protestants believed that “Reconciled Diversity” described the present state of ecumenism, for the Catholic Church it was as yet a future aim.
Loading ...
