Pope Francis: 2017 Catholics Will "Commemorate 500 Years of the Reformation"

German Lutherans with Pope Francis

(Rome) Pope Francis received a delegation on Thursday of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany at the Vatican. In his address to the Lutherans, the Catholic Church leader said some astonishing  things. Catholics and Lutherans should "remember together" the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.  Celebrate the schism as a common event? An idiosyncratic form of "historicization" of the Reformation?

What the Pope said: "Ecumenical dialogue can not now be separated from reality and the life of our churches. In 2017, Lutheran and Catholic Christians commemorate together the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation. On this occasion, Lutherans and Catholics will, for the first time, have the opportunity to keep one and the same global ecumenical commemoration, not in the form of a triumphalist celebration, but rather to  confess our common faith in the Triune God. "

This is a shared "Reformation Memorial" reported Miguel Angel Yáñez, as the chief editor of Adelante la fe  considers: "I really wonder: Are we seriously commemorating as Catholics of the unfortunate schism that  enticed by the millions of souls to the fall away from the Catholic faith"

Lutherans and Lefebvrians?

And Yáñez continued, "If this ecumenical discourse is coherent, then we would soon get to hear the following statement from Rome:

, Ecumenical dialogue can not be separated from the reality and the life of our church today. In 2018 we commemorate together with Catholics associated to Archbishop Lefebvre   the 30th anniversary of the consecration of bishops who have separated from us. On this occasion, the two sides will, for the first time, have the opportunity to keep the world one and the same ecumenical commemoration, not in the form of a triumphalist celebration, but to confess our common faith in the Triune God,'" says Miguel Angel Yáñez.

Pope Francis continued to the German Lutherans. "Let us invite all, with God's help and with the support of his spirit to make further steps towards unity and not just to limit ourselves to what we have already achieved with this Reformation Memorial"

The German Bishops' Conference is actively pursuing the "common" Memory of the Church's schism by Martin Luther. For this purpose, a separate "project office of the Reformation Memorial" was set up.

2017: 100th Anniversary of Fatima

The 2017 does not mean 500 years of Church division but really, 100 years since the apparitions of Fatima. For the latter, Pope Francis has  not taken to commemorate it so far. In Portugal they have been trying to descure a Pope visit since 2013 for the Pope's visit on the occasion of the 100th anniversary celebrations in Fatima. Last April,  the retired Portuguese Cardinal José Saraiva Martins said there is no secure commitment, but it was "normal and natural" that the Pope would come to a "so momentous occasion" to Fatima.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: InfoVaticana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

LInk to Katholisches..

AMDG

Vatican Speaker Downplays Father Luther's "Rehabilitation"

This comment from EKD President Nikolaus Schneider is "a bit exaggerated", said Lombardi this Saturday for journalists in Freiburg.

Vatican City (kath.net/KNA) Vatican speaker Federico Lombardi [SJ] has admonished the interpretation, which suggested a >>de facto<< rehabilitation of Martin Luther by Pope Benedict XVI. This suggestion is >>a bit exaggerated<<, said Lombardi on Saturday for journalists in Freiburg. The Advisory President of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Nikolaus Schneider, had [also on FaithWorld] described the words of the Pope at an ecumenical meeting in Erfurt subsequently as >>a de facto rehabilitation<<.

Lombardi said, Benedict XVI. has underlined the >>depth of faith<< of the reformers. For the Pope, the visit to the place where Luther lived and believed, had been very significant. The Head of the Catholic Church had desired this meeting with representatives of the Evangelical Church right in Erfurt, because >>the divine questions of Luther were a central point of the entire trip<<, said the speaker.

Link to kath.net...

Additionally,

He also said the Faith can not be negotiated, here...

Two Lutheran Pastors Have Become Catholic

National Lutheran Priests from East Germany convert to the Catholic Church by assisting at Holy Eucharist and professing the Nicene Creed.  They are preparing themselves now for the priesthood.

Dresden (kath.net) Two National Lutheran pastors have used their summer vacations to convert to the Catholic Church.  Jochen Schubert, who is married and has a daughter, is leaving the Lutheran rectory of Seelinstädt and has settled in Dresden.  Also Jens Bulisch from Schmölln near Bischofswerda has completed the step.  The 39 year old is married and the father of two children.  This was reported in "Der Sonntag", the weekly paper for the Evangelical Lutheran National Church of Saxony.  Both theologians work as pastoral assistants of the Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen and are preparing also to become Catholic priests.

Bulisch had developed a growing coldness to Christian ritual according to the "Ostthüringer Zeitung".  "Are they celebrating the people themselves or God?",  so said the theologian found himself often asking.  And "Der Sonntag"  mentioned that there were still further theological considerations, some over the understanding of the priestly office, as well as personal experiences with the Catholic Church played a role,  to foster a decision "growing over the years".

Schubert was already known in the Evangelical Community for his love for Catholic traditions, noted the "Ostthüringer Zeitung".  He puts much value on the Liturgy, the use of a black instead of a white cassock and is said to have stressed Catholic feast days like All Saints, usually more than the inner-Evangelical ones.

The conversion to the Roman Catholic Church was consummated on the 25th of July this year, in which they assisted at a Catholic  Holy Mass and professed the Nicean Creed, reported, "Der Sonntag".

Link to kath.net...

Sex Abuse Rocks Lutheran Church in Germany

Editor: Last year, the world's first female Lutheran Bishop, Maria Jepsen, was forced to resign under suspicion that she had covered up abuse. The case received almost no coverage in the English speaking press at all

North Elba Lutheran Church struggles with accusations of covering up a serious case of sexual abuse.


Ahrensburg (kath.net/idea) In connection with the most serious case of sexual abuse in the North Elba Church, Heidi Emse the former Provost is defending herself against accusations that she had covered it up. She became aware of occurrences in the Church Community of Ahrensburg near Hamburg in 1999. From the seventies to the eighties, former Pastor Gert-Dietrich Kohl (73) had admitted to committing the crime in the meantime against 22 children and adolescents, among whom were three of his five stepsons. The crimes have passed the statute of limitations.

The president of the North Elba Church, Bishop Gerhard Ulrich (Schleswig)conceded a lapse in supervision, actually the church leadership followed the direction of their consultants, to introduce disciplinary action against Emse. This will now make certain that things will in no way be veiled. In retrospect they are viewing this solely as negligence, that the procedure had not been properly documented. They had been informed by the church office by telephone in 1999 about the suspicion before her time in office about the child abuse. Kohl was then reassigned. She's explained that it was dealt with administratively. A year later she learned that he was working in juvenile law enforcement. Thereupon she applied to the church office. Then Kohl was put on early retirement. Taking this into consideration, the Ahrensburger Church Board had expressed confusion about the decision of the Church leadership being directed against Emse. This could have been done with greater clarity.

Link to original...

Evangelical Lutheran Sex-Change Pastor

This goes well with the week of prayer for the unity of Christians.  In any case this "fairy" would like to be known as "Herr Pastor".

This Pastor is now a Pastoress

(kreuz.net) January  24 2011 - The married protestant pastor, Hans Gerd Spörkel (54) told the world through the boulevard magazine 'Bild', that he was "born in the wrong body".

Spörkel is active in the 5000 population town of Haldern -- a part of the city of Rees in the district of Dusseldorf.

The evangelical community  has about 1250  people.

'Bild' formulated the problem in a humorous light: "Pastor Hans-Gerd Spörkel (54) was earlier a man and enters now as a woman before the community."

Even as a young boy Spörkel cried in front of the television when he watched the film "Sissi":


"He cried from joy, because he found the glistening clothes of the Empress so beautiful" -- 'Bild" said of the schmaltzy Sissi-film and Spörkel.

Since the beginning of last month the pastor has been taking feminine hormones.

He pulls the hair of his beard out, wears makeup and wears woman's clothes -- naturally from the protestant pulpit.

His decadent community clapped for a long while as he danced into his house of worship for the first time as a woman.

Spörkel's been active there for  26 years.

Before his most recent step, there were "rumors" in his community, where he was seen wearing women's clothing.

Finally, he had understandable thoughts of killing himself, suffered a nervous breakdown and entered into a "psychosomatic" clinic.

There he turned himself around and came to consider himself as a "woman".

Spörkel is separated from his wife.  According to reports from 'Bild' he will continue being there for his children.

As you would expect he is supported in his madness by the protestant church leadership.

His boss is Dieter Schutte (61) who is the Superintendant of the communities of Wesel.

'Bild' cites him: "It was important to handle this transparently.  We have spoken with him intensively and paid close attention to how the community would handle his decision."

In the mean time Spörkel is stepping out, according to 'Bild', as a fairy:  "blue, rimless glasses, elegant makeup, blonde, short hair, two earrings, purple scarf."

He still wants to be addressed as "Herr Pastor".

"I still want to retain the masculine title for identification -- perhaps I will change it sometime," was how 'Bild' cited the disturbed man.

Link to kreuz.net original...

A Lübeck Priest is Suspended from Ministry: Homosexual Clergy and Lay Professionals are Being Phased Out

Edit: No one is being forced to become a priest here.  There are rules and as it turns out, there are good reasons for them. In any event, things are being done to deal with this obvious problem.  As with the case of David Berger, if you think you're going to get a pass on your behavior because you're witty and know about how to match the tea set with the drapes, you're sadly mistaken.  Laughably, the Lutheran Communion is being cited as an example.  If you want to fade into irrelevance, the way of multi-Culturalism is the way to go.


Lubeck -- The Catholic Church put a cleric on leave because of "priestly lapse".  Critics speak of hypocrisy.[They can't speak about much else besides sex, so it's a slight reprieve]

The Catholic Church in Lubeck removed a homosexual Pastor from further service. [Good.] The 40-year old churchman had made his inclination known in a corresponding internet-forum.

The Masses in the little St. Vecelin Community had been since that point read by Provost Franz Mecklenfeld,  because the Church had a personell problem there.  Since the summer Matthias T. aged 40 has been absent..  The priest had been put on leave by Archbishop Werner Thissen.  The Church does not want to hang its personell issue from the clock tower for everyone to see.  The parishoners however are firing the wildest rumours into the air.  "No one has been harmed, neither physically nor materially", explained the community spokesman Werner Schroeder.  He would not give further information.

Matthias T. is homosexual. [Allegedly]  That is in no way punishable in the Catholic Church -- so long as it remained his private affair. [Nor is this true] Homosexuals are not supposed to be priests in any case, as the Vatican has most recently declared.  If their inclination, however, is discovered at first, the Church passes it over in silence-- so long as the person concerned isn't "outed". T, however was traveling a corresponding internet-forum [gayromeo.com], and had made his homosexuality known and probably  cemented some contacts in the homosexual scene.  On the "ultraconservative" site www.kreuz.net the controversy was discussed on the net.  Critics spoke of the "prostitution of a cleric".

"It was handled like a priestly lapse", came the monosyllabic reply from the Archdiocese of Hamburg.  "Our personell department is occupied with the case," said the Diocesan speaker Manfred Nielen.  Since 6. Juli the cleric has been deprived of full faculties.  The punitive and relevant proceedings as being speculated by the community, were not weighed against the 40 year old.

The Pastor had left Lubeck in the meantime, because he had to leave his home.  Pikant:  Matthias T. was employed by the Hamburger Archbishop of Lubeck as a student chaplain.  The position is vacant to date.  T. was also active in the confession and communion ministry for children.

"We must be responsible", explained Provost Mecklenfeld, Christian Weisner, presiding member of the people's movement "We Are Church", said in contrast: "Increasingly more gays don't want to live a double life any more, are tired of the secrecy".  The double standard [sic] of the Catholic Church puts those concerned under tremendous pressure.  Many clerics break down. [Lots of jobs out there besides being a priest that are better paying]

Homosexuality remains for the Catholic Church a red hankerchief. In the book just now presented in Rome the Pope is cited as saying this sentence: "It [the homosexuality] remains something, that is against whose nature is placed, what God had originally  desired."  According to appraisals from "We Are Church"  there are at least 20 percent of all Catholic Priests who are homosexual.  In the Roman Catholic Church the priests promise an unmarried state (Celibacy).

In the North Elba Evangelical Lutheran Church [NEK] homosexuality is not a hindrance  either for ordination or for the carrying out of its spiritual office.  Already in 1986 the NEK-Synod had spoken out against the discrimination of homosexual persons.  "In the meantime there has been a number of Pastors and Pastorettes who are also living in homosexual partnerships", explained Vice Church Spokesperson, Thomas Kärst [But Lutheranism is effectively dead in Germany anyway, so why does it matter?]

By Curd  Tönnemann

Link, here...

German Protestant Church Faces Vocations Crisis

Editor: But wait, the Evangelical "churches" in Germany haven't had clerical celibacy, and have Pastoresses. Surely they can't be having a vocations crisis.... Their preoccupation with "social justice" is certainly part of the problem, but a wry lone comment was made on the page which points to the utterly man-centered orientation of protestantism, which is its downfall:

"When liberal Protestantism demands religious reverence for the man Jesus, it is disgusting and shocking. They cannot themselves believe that the respect in which Jesus is held by the people and which they have made use of in such an unprotestant manner, can be maintained for any length of time after the nimbus of divinity has been destroyed, and they may reflect on the insufficiency of the momentary subterfuge. The Protestant principle in its last consequences, disposes of all kinds of dogmatic authority in a remorseless manner, and its supporters must, whether they like it or not, dispense with the authority of Christ."

The Protestant Church has secondary growth concerns: The number of students for Evangelical Theology is in decline since the beginning of the nineties.

[Die Zeit: Online] 10-15 years it will still go well, then however, Germany will be threatened by a shortage of ministers, fear the Union of Evangelical Pastors and Pastoresses. The number of young men, who want to be Pastor, has been declining for years: 1992 still had 8500 young people studying for the ministry, at the present there are only 2300, said Union President Klaus Weber. From 2020 on the Pastor-boom will fall into silence.

Not only is the number of candidates sinking, but simultaneously the number of members of the Evangelical church as well. These were estimated by 2030 to be a quarter of what they are today, said Weber. For this reason Pastor's positions are being closed. Already is a Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Pastor responsible for a dozen communities. The all-important personal contact is broken down. The church relies more on volunteers to hold its divine services.

Simultaneously, the requests of the Pastor grow, says Weber. In order to manage the requests, the ministers must be put in center points. These are for him as before the carefully prepared accompaniment of people in the turning points of their lives, like baptism, confirmation and marriage. "There is no other occupation, in which the doors of homes are so open."

Weber criticized also, he missed the engagement, to find a new way to people. It is also hard not to recognize, that in the country churches there is much effort to invest in the construction of financially sustainable structures.

From the 20th to 22nd September more than four hundred Theologians will meet for German Pastoress and Paster-day. The Germany-wide largest theological professional congress stands beneath the motto "The Evangelical Church and the Social Question".

Link to original, Zeit.

Russian Church is to suspend its dialogue with German Lutherans

German Lutherans must not have much of a commitment to ecumenical dialogue if they're so insensitive as to ordain a female Bishop as they've done recently. It can't bode well either that the Swedish Lutheran Church has ordained a female homosexual either. Lines are being drawn in this battle, and it looks like dying protestant denominations are doing almost as much for the Catholic cause as Benedict by making an infernal marriage with the spirit of the post-modern age.

Moscow, November 12, Interfax – The Russian Orthodox Church is ready to suspend the dialogue with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany after woman bishop Margot Kaessmann has become its leader.

“We planned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our dialogue with the Lutheran Church in Germany in late November or early December. The 50th anniversary of the dialogue will become the end of it,” head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk was quoted as saying by the Kommersant daily on Thursday.

Archbishop Hilarion reminded that Orthodoxy did not accept female priesthood.

“We can develop the dialogue, but there raise lots of simple protocol questions. How will the Patriarch address her or meet with her?” the Russian Church representative said.

Kaessmann, 51, a divorced mother of four daughters, was elected head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany, which unites over twenty Lutheran and Reformed Churches, during the Synod held on October 28.

Russian Lutherans supported the Moscow Patriarchate official’s statement and agreed that female episcopate is a sign of crisis in the Western society.

“We don’t have women bishops as introducing such an institute is not a Biblical action,” general secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria (Russia) Fr. Alexander Prilutsky said.

Link to article...