August 30, 2004

BALTIMORE - The focal topic of the recent phase of the Lutheran - Roman Catholic Commission on Unity was the Apostolicity of the Church. This year's meeting, the ninth of the fourth phase of the commission, proceeded with its work on biblical, historical and systematic theological aspects of the theme.

At the July 9 to 17 meeting in Baltimore, United States of America, the commission carried out its work on the basis of revised drafts received from the drafting group, which had met in Erfurt, Germany, in April 2003 and in Rome in March 2004.

Discussions focused on the "Apostolicity of the Church - New Testament Foundations;" the Apostolic Gospel and the Apostolicity of the Church;" "Apostolic Succession and the Ordained Ministry," and "Church Teaching which Remains in the Truth."

The dialogue is co-sponsored by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU). The commission is co-chaired by Bishop Dr Bila Harmati of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary, and Archbishop Alfons Nossol of Opole, from Poland.

From the beginning, the goal of the Lutheran - Roman Catholic dialogue has been the visible unity of the Church. The first phase of the dialogue (1967-1971) concentrated on the "Gospel and the Church," while the second phase (1973 - 1984) looked at the "Eucharist and the Ministry in the Church." The topic of the third phase (1986-1993) was "Church and Justification." The 1999 signing of Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was also based on findings in this dialogue.

The commission is expected to conclude its work in 2005, and publish its report in 2006.

The next meeting of the Lutheran - Roman Catholic Commission on Unity will take place, 22-30 September 2005.

The full statement of the communiqui from the Lutheran - Roman Catholic Commission on Unity is posted on the LWF Web site under http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/1495.EN.html

Lutheran World Information