August 14, 2009

ASUNCION, Paraguay/GENEVA – Despite the painful history of Lutheran condemnations of Anabaptists, collaboration with Mennonites around the world has helped move Lutherans to seek reconciliation with them, said Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

"We have come to desire this new level of reconciliation as we have come to know you better," Noko told over 5,000 delegates attending the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Assembly on 15 July in Asuncion, Paraguay. "In many places around the world, we are already living out the unity which has been given to us ‘in Christ.'"

The LWF general secretary's presence at the MWC assembly was prompted by recommendations from the Lutheran-Mennonite International Study Commission, whose research was completed this year. Building on the work of earlier dialogues in France, Germany and the United States, the Commission examined the historical impact of 16th century Lutheran anathemas, which contributed to the justification of violent persecution against Anabaptists, including death.

"This legacy is on our side alone: you did not retaliate with condemnations or executions," Noko emphasized.

"The pain of our separations is borne not only by us but also by the whole Body of Christ. So it will be healing also for the whole Church if our two bodies make a path together toward reconciliation," he noted.

Noko's address prompted a welcoming response: "We are witnessing walls coming down," said Rev. Danisa Ndlovu, incoming MWC president, who pledged "we will walk with you" as Lutherans address the troubled history.

The LWF general secretary linked Lutheran desire to address this painful past to the upcoming anniversary, "Luther 2017: 500 Years of Reformation." While celebrating the fresh insights into the gospel which had come from the 16th century renewal of the Church, Lutherans also want "a spirit of honesty and repentance, a commitment to the continuing reformation of our tradition and of the whole Church," he said.

The upcoming Council meeting in October will propose a statement that will, on behalf of the LWF, ask for forgiveness for Lutheran persecutions of Anabaptists. The LWF Eleventh Assembly in July 2010 will be asked to take appropriate action on this statement. "We hope [this] will put us in a new relation to the anathemas in our confessional writings and will express our deep regret and repentance for the use of these writings in justification of violence that cannot be justified," Noko told the MWC assembly. His remarks received a sustained standing ovation.

Noko and Prof. Kathryn Johnson, LWF assistant general secretary for ecumenical affairs, also joined Mennonite members of the Study Commission, to address an earlier session of the MWC Council. While noting that some of the condemnations addressed positions that were not representative of Anabaptist tradition or of teaching today, the Commission identified areas of continuing difference between the two Christian families, notably on issues of baptism and church-state relations.

Noko noted the challenge that reconciliation with Mennonites still holds for the Lutheran family, explaining that the Augsburg Confession, which condemns Anabaptists, remains an authoritative document for Lutherans around the world. He said it was essential that new generations of Anabaptists and Lutherans should not continue to inherit the painfully divisive history.

Johnson stressed reconciliation as distinctive in this relationship as the Anabaptists did not reciprocate these anathemas and persecutions. The legacy of this one-sided use of violence is a burden which it was now time for Lutherans to lay down, she noted.

At the conclusion of these remarks, the MWC Council officers surrounded Noko and Johnson, laid hands on themand offered prayers of thanksgiving. Said Dr Nancy Heisey, outgoing MWC president, "We realize that you must find the language you will use in the resolution of your Assembly. But today we have heard the language of your hearts."

Lutheran World Information