September 17, 2004

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador/GENEVA - The president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop Mark S. Hanson met Salvadoran Roman Catholic Archbishop Monsignor Fernando Saenz Lacalle as part of the continuing dialogue between Lutherans and Roman Catholics.

"We had a very cordial, and I believe honest conversation. We begun to talk about the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. It is always good as a Lutheran leader and a Roman Catholic leader to begin by affirming what we have in common," Hanson said after the meeting with Lacalle.

Hanson noted that during the meeting both leaders also talked openly about Lutheran and Roman Catholic differences.

"The task of the dialogues is to work on the theological issues that continue to divide us," the LWF president said. While that work goes on, he noted, "we also embrace a spirit of ecumenism."

Lacalle said "the visit was very interesting in that Hanson is not only a person who has left a mark within the Lutheran communion but also in the Christian world."

The Salvadoran archbishop described encounters such as the one with Hanson as very important for sharing common points of view regarding the need for Christians worldwide to be actively engaged in bringing Christ's message to all communities. "In brief we considered (during the meeting) the importance of October 31 when we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification," Lacalle underlined.

Representatives of the LWF and Roman Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) on 31 October 1999 in Augsburg, Germany. The event following more than 30 years of bilateral dialogues, was an affirmation that the mutual condemnations from the time of the Reformation do not apply to the teaching on justification as presented in the JDDJ. A consensus in basic truths concerning justification has been achieved, but there are remaining differences that are part of the focus on continuing dialogue.

"I believe that the more we are faithful to the evangelical spirit the more we are united," Lacalle concluded after the meeting with the Lutheran delegation.

Also attending were Bishop Medardo E. Gsmez Soto of the Salvadoran Lutheran Synod (SLS); LWF Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean, Rev. Victoria Cortiz Rodrmguez; and Rev. Martin Junge, LWF Area Secretary for the Latin American and Caribbean region. San Salvador Roman Catholic Auxiliary Archbishop, Monsignor Gregorio Rosa Chavez was also present.

Hanson said during the encounter, Lacalle "talked a great deal about the effects of materialism and secularism on the life of individuals. He talked critically of the role of schools and education, saying in his view education has become very secular, ad stressed the need for personal and moral formation."

Diaconia Must Address Root Causes of Poverty

Commenting on contributions from Gsmez and Cortiz during the meeting with Lacalle, the LWF president noted, "Both talked very clearly that for us as Lutherans we cannot just talk about personal morality but we also must talk about the morality of structures of society. [We must] talk about the morality of repressive governments, of only a few people controlling the global wealth and of destroying the creation."

Hanson insisted that for Lutherans "diaconia cannot just be service but must always be prophetic: it always must help those who are struggling with the basic human rights of dignity, food, shelter and medicine. We also must equip those who are victims of society's structures to address the root causes that bring about their poverty, and to find ways to transform such structures."

Hanson also visited the Divina Providencia Hospital Church, where Archbishop Arnulfo Romero was assassinated on 24 March 1980 while offering mass. He said Romero's voice was being heard today through the voice and deeds of the SLS.

The LWF president was on a six-day visit to El Salvador, September 11-16, invited by the Communion of Lutheran Churches in Central America.

Lutheran World Information
Reported for LWI by Peru-based journalist Razl Gutiirrez.