Cardinal Kasper Feels Left Out: Lutherans Snub Joint Declaration on Justification

It’s a big pain that the hard-won basic text for justification is not mentioned by the EKD.

Berlin (kath.net / KNA) The former Vatican Ecumenical Head Cardinal Walter Kasper has criticized the statement of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) on the doctrine of justification. The “basic text published in May didn’t mention a single word on the pact singed in 1999 by Catholics and Lutherans "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" (GER), said Kasper this weekend in Berlin. "I could not believe it, it hurt me," said the retired German Cardinal.

For the upcoming anniversary of the Reformation of the EKD promises "no good,” said Kasper. He expressed the hope that this is not the last word on the question by the EKD. The paper is titled “Justification and Freedom. Reformation 500 years in 2017." In the theological question of justification, is, to put it simply, a matter of whether the sin which hinders the relationship between God and man can be brought back to order by grace alone or by human participation.

The former President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity spoke on this at a meeting of the Christian community "Chemin Neuf" (New Way), which celebrated its 20-years of engagement in Berlin. The former president of the Lutheran World Federation, Bishop Emeritus of the Brunswick, Christian Krause, said of GER, which is a central Lutheran-Catholic consensus document, had been controversial "only in Germany" within the Lutheran churches before signing. Krause continuing said, for the Catholic Church it was not an easy question to answer, as they are confronted with the anniversary of the Reformation, which has been prepared with great effort.

Kasper explained that the Catholic Church would "participate, if we are invited" in the celebrations. This is where the ball lay, but on the side of the EKD. In his view, the churches could "celebrate what has been given us in recent decades,” in 2017. They should "not forget what we have already formulated together.”

Link to kath.net...