March 3, 2003

CANTERBURY, United Kingdom/GENEVA - President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop emeritus Dr Christian Krause, has described the festive enthronement service of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, as an ecumenical signal for the future. Krause attended the enthronement in Canterbury's historic cathedral on Thursday, 27 February. Lutheran bishops and archbishops of the Nordic and Baltic churches, in full altar-and-pulpit fellowship with the Anglican churches of Great Britain and Ireland since the 1995 conclusion of the Porvoo Agreement, were present as well as numerous representatives of other confessions.

The service put emphasis on interest in strengthening current ecumenical links on both the Lutheran and Anglican side, Krause told Lutheran World Information (LWI). He said he raised this point during private conversation with Williams on 28 February. Bishop Juergen Johannesdotter of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe, co-chair of the Meissen Commission, was also present.

This close, direct relationship is reflected in the churches' active involvement in Israel and Palestine. Each is concerned about contributing to peace and reconciliation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Krause said. Anglican and Lutheran presence in the Holy Land illustrate this. He said he thanked Williams specifically for his commitment to a peaceful solution to the conflict over Iraq.

Krause presented the new archbishop with a copy of the Imervard Cross to mark the enthronement. The cross is considered to be the most valuable work of art in Brunswick's cathedral. One of Williams' predecessors, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket, is a patron saint of Brunswick cathedral. Krause was bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick from 1994 to 2002.

Now officially enthroned as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, Williams, 52, is primate of the Church of England and spiritual head of the whole Anglican Communion of 70 million members. Welsh, and former Archbishop of Wales, he succeeds Rt Rev. George Carey. He legally became Archbishop of Canterbury at a ceremony in St Paul's Cathedral, London, last December. The enthronement service was his formal reception and a celebration of the start of his new ministry.

Lutheran World Information