March 27, 2007

CHICAGO – In a congratulatory greeting to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) on its 60th anniversary, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to the "always fruitful" dialogue between the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church, and the major progress in ecumenical relations after the Second Vatican Council.

The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF has 140 member churches in 78 countries throughout the world, representing nearly 66.7 million Christians.

"Ecumenical fellowship has [grown] all over the world through numerous encounters between Lutherans and Catholics," said the pope in his greeting read to worshippers March 25 at the LWF 60th anniversary Eucharistic worship service at the Lund Cathedral, Lund, Sweden.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, delivered the greeting, which was addressed to the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, LWF president and presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The pope expressed his great joy and wishes for blessing at the celebrations and deliberations around the LWF's 60th anniversary. He described the relations between the two communions as "a gift of the Holy Spirit" which at the same time "commits us not to slacken in our ecumenical endeavors in the spirit of our Lord's prayer ‘that they may all be one'" (John 17:21).

"We are called in common witness to proclaim the saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world suffering distress and seeking orientation at so many points," he said. After all, "we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God" (Romans 5:2b).

Of the major progress in ecumenical relations made since the 1960s, Pope Benedict singled out the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification on Oct. 31, 1999, in Augsburg, Germany. He noted that the questions currently calling for further clarification include, above all, the understanding of the Church, its sacraments and its ministries.

World Council of Churches congratulates LWF

The "strong relationship" between the LWF and the World Council of Churches (WCC) has been characterized "not only by mutual accountability and reciprocity on the journey towards unity, but by the common witness of the member churches in the service of all humanity" said a message addressed to the LWF.

The WCC congratulated the LWF for "60 years of growth in communion and witness," and evokes its "tireless efforts" to foster "a Lutheran identity that is ecumenically committed and open to sharing generously its gifts of spirit and resources."

The message was delivered March 24 by the Rev. Walter Altmann, WCC central committee moderator and president, Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil.

Some 44 Lutheran churches organized at the national level in as many countries around the world are members of the WCC.

Information about the LWF Council meeting and LWF 60th anniversary celebration in Lund, Sweden is at http://www.lutheranworld.org/ on the Web.

ELCA News Service
This report on Bishop Hanson's remarks to the LWF Council was supplied by Lutheran World Information, Geneva.