July 27, 2006

SEOUL, South Korea/GENEVA – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, says the formal affirmation of the Joint declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) by the World Methodist Council (WMC) represents a new ecumenical landmark "for which we must thank and praise God together."

Addressing the 19th World Methodist Conference in Seoul, South Korea, on the occasion of the affirmation on 23 July, Noko said he hoped the Methodists' endorsement of the JDDJ would be an encouragement for new and broader forms of ecumenical cooperation among the respective communions. The 20-24 July conference met under the theme "God in Christ Reconciling."

Representatives of the LWF and Roman Catholic Church signed the JDDJ on 31 October 1999 in Augsburg, Germany. With the signing, the two Christian communions declared that mutual condemnations at the time of the 16th century Protestant Reformation do not apply to their current teaching.

The Methodists are the first Christian world communion besides the original signing partners, to formally affirm in a substantial theological statement, the agreements in basic truths of justification as expressed in the JDDJ. A WMC statement on the JDDJ explains how Methodist teaching relates to the doctrine of justification at a fundamental level.

Noko noted there had been some criticism of the JDDJ for not sufficiently drawing the consequences of the agreements reached. There are deep realities in the churches and the world that must be dealt with in concrete ways, he said, and "we must [now] grow together in the mystery of our union through God's justifying grace, for the renewal of our churches and for the healing of humanity."

The Official Common Affirmation signed by the three partners in Seoul affirms the WMC and its member churches' agreement to the JDDJ. It also states the LWF and Roman Catholic Church's joint acceptance of the Methodist statement. In the document, the three parties commit themselves "to strive together for the deepening of their common understanding of justification in theological study, teaching and preaching," and to the pursuit of full communion and common witness to the world.

The signatories to the Official Common Affirmation included the WMC Chairperson, His Eminence Sunday Mbang and WMC General Secretary, Rev. George Freeman; LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko and LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs, Rev. Sven Oppegaard; Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Archbishop emeritus Cardinal Soo-Hwan Kim.

The full text of the Methodist Statement on the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification is available on the LWF Web site at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/OEA/Methodist-Statement-2006-EN.pdf.

Lutheran World Information