Catholics and Lutherans Mark 500 Years of the Reformation Together

Martin Luther sent his Ninety-five Theses to the archbishop of Mainz on 31 October 1517 (From Conflict to Communion (2013) 40); see Luther’s Ninety-five Theses. So says From Conflict to Communion, the report that the international Lutheran–Catholic dialogue commission published in 2013 to prepare for the five-hundredth anniversary (From Conflict to Communion (2013) 1–3). It observed that 2017 would be the first centenary of the Reformation to fall in the ecumenical age (From Conflict to Communion (2013) 7). The point, it said, was “not to tell a different history, but to tell that history differently” (From Conflict to Communion (2013) 16). It spoke of a dawning awareness that the struggle of the sixteenth century is over, and proposed five imperatives, the first being always to begin from the perspective of unity (From Conflict to Communion (2013) 238–239).

On 31 October 2016 the anniversary year was opened (Joint Statement at Lund (2016) ‘With thankful hearts’) with a common prayer in the cathedral of Lund in Sweden (Lutheran World Federation, report of the Lund commemoration (1 November 2016)), the city where the Lutheran World Federation held its first assembly in 1947 (Lutheran World Federation, History of the LWF). Francis and Cardinal Kurt Koch took part for the Catholic Church, and for the federation its president, Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and its general secretary, Martin Junge (Lutheran World Federation, report of the Lund commemoration (1 November 2016)). The federation called it the first joint Catholic–Lutheran commemoration of the Reformation at the global level (Lutheran World Federation, report of the Lund commemoration (1 November 2016)).

In his sermon Francis acknowledged “with gratitude” that the Reformation had helped give Scripture a more central place in the church’s life (Francis, Homily at Lund (31 October 2016)). Luther’s question, how to find “a propitious God”, was in his words the decisive question for our lives, and Luther’s “by grace alone” a reminder that God always takes the initiative (Francis, Homily at Lund (31 October 2016)).

During the service Francis and Younan signed a joint statement (Lutheran World Federation, report of the Lund commemoration (1 November 2016)). It says that through fifty years of dialogue and through shared service Catholics and Lutherans have learned that what unites them is greater than what divides them (Joint Statement at Lund (2016) ‘With thankful hearts’). It gives thanks for the spiritual and theological gifts received through the Reformation, and confesses and laments that Lutherans and Catholics have wounded the visible unity of the church (Joint Statement at Lund (2016) ‘Moving from conflict to communion’). It commits both to growth in communion rooted in baptism and to removing the remaining obstacles to full unity, and it speaks of the pain of those who share their whole lives but cannot share the Eucharist (Joint Statement at Lund (2016) ‘Our commitment to common witness’).

The federation’s report calls the Joint Declaration of 1999 a key milestone on the way to Lund (Lutheran World Federation, report of the Lund commemoration (1 November 2016)); see Lutherans and Catholics Agree on Justification. Differences remained: at the press conference that followed, Koch named the church, the Eucharist and ministry as the three open questions of the dialogue (Lutheran World Federation, report of the Lund commemoration (1 November 2016) second report, 3 November 2016).