IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn
By Colleen Dulle
WASHINGTON
(CNS) — Swiss Cardinal Kurt Koch, renowned for his ecumenical efforts,
addressed a Washington gathering of Catholic and Lutheran leaders striving for
unity.
Cardinal
Koch’s speech took place May 30 at “The 500th Anniversary of Martin Luther’s
Posting of the Ninety-Five Theses Conference: Luther and the Shaping of the
Catholic Tradition,” held at The Catholic University of America.
In
his address, Cardinal Koch called for a new understanding of Martin Luther that
takes into account his historical and religious context.
The
cardinal, who leads the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity,
outlined how Luther was grounded in the monastic and mystical traditions of
late medieval Catholicism, like Christ-centered theology.
He
also pointed out that the reforms Luther called for were not extraordinary in
their time: similar reforms were gaining traction elsewhere, like the “devotio
moderna,” or “modern devotion,” movement in the Netherlands that called for
humility and simplicity in the church, or the first multilingual edition of
Scripture that was published in Spain in 1515.
Luther,
the cardinal said, never intended for his reforms to divide the church, just as
medieval reformers such as St. Francis and St. Dominic never intended to found
new religious orders. They only intended to reform the church from within.
Cardinal
Koch said the Catholic Church of the Middle Ages was partly to blame for the
division.
“If
Martin Luther’s call for reform and repentance had found open ears among the
bishops of the time and of the pope in Rome, the reform intended to be
initiated by him (Luther) would not have become the Reformation. For the fact
that the original reform of the church became instead a church-dividing
reformation, the Catholic Church of the time must bear its share of the blame,”
Cardinal Koch said.
He
pointed out that it wasn’t until later in his life that Luther began to call
into question the role and structure of the church. Because of this, he said,
it isn’t fair to see the posting of Luther’s theses as the moment the church
split into Lutheranism and Catholicism.
Koch
stated that political leaders in Germany were largely responsible for the formation
of a distinct Lutheran Church about 100 years after Luther wrote his theses.
Still,
he said, Luther’s essential question about the role of the church remains
important and must be addressed in the dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans
going forward.
Additionally,
reconciliation must be a guiding theme in the conversation, the cardinal said,
referencing Pope Francis’ words in Sweden last year.
Cardinal
Koch said that Catholics must continue to apologize for their sometimes-violent
offenses, like wars, against other religious groups, just as Lutherans must
apologize for the way it has painted the pre-Reformation Catholic Church over
the years.
The
cardinal also called for a consensus between Catholics and Lutherans on
Luther’s doctrine of justification — the idea that a person is saved through
faith rather than actions.
“After
500 years of division,” the cardinal said, “we must strive for a binding
communion and put it into effect already today.”
Retired
Lutheran Bishop
Eero
Huovinen of the Diocese of Helsinki responded to the Cardinal Koch’s address.
He
said he agreed with everything the cardinal had said.
Bishop
Huovinen focused his response instead on the 2015 Catholic-Lutheran joint “Declaration
on the Way: Church, Ministry and the Eucharist,” which attempts to reach common
theological ground between the two groups.
Some
of the scholars who drafted the declaration attended the talk.
Bishop
Huovinen questioned the document’s use of the word “church,” since it has
different definitions to Catholics and Lutherans. He also called for a closer
look at the Roman Missal’s language about the Eucharist as a sacrifice, which
might be at odds with Lutheran theology.
Both
speakers praised the progress already made to reconcile Catholics and Lutherans.
They called for the 500th anniversary of the theses to be a jumping off point
for a more nuanced effort toward reconciliation going forward.
The
May 30-June 1 conference at Catholic University was co-sponsored by Metropolitan
Washington, D.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Catholic
University’s School of Theology and religious Studies, the Vatican’s Pontifical
Committee of Historical Sciences, and the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for
Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.
– – –
Copyright © 2017 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
