Catholics, Lutherans Jointly To Mark Reformation Anniversary

[HisChildForever]

Full article here. I look forward to the reactions to this one..

 

PARIS/GENEVA (Reuters) - Senior Roman Catholic and Lutheran officials announced on Monday they would mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 as a shared event rather than highlight the clash that split Western Christianity.

The Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) presented a report in Geneva admitting both were guilty of harming Christian unity in the past and describing a growing consensus between the two churches in recent decades.

The 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's 95 Theses, the doctrinal challenge that launched the Protestant Reformation, will be the first centenary celebration in the age of ecumenism, globalization and the secularization of Western societies.

"The division of the church is something we cannot celebrate but we can see what is positive and try to find ways towards the future together," said Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Vatican's department to promote Christian unity.

[MissyP89]

...I get ecumenism. It's critical and edifying and absolutely necessary. But Catholics recognizing the Reformation? Really?

 

I'm not sure I follow.

[ToJesusMyHeart]

:doh:  :redcard:

[Basilisa Marie]

What do you mean by "recognizing the Reformation?"  

[Papist]

The Reformation was a bad thing, right?  Can we tell the Lutherans that?

[ToJesusMyHeart]

The Reformation is certainly not something to celebrate.

[HisChildForever]

The Reformation was a bad thing, right?  Can we tell the Lutherans that?

 

The article does include that the Vatican and LWF's report:

 

The report said Luther's 95 Theses were meant to begin a debate about practices such as selling indulgences and were not intended to found a new church. Both sides mishandled the crisis that followed, leading to the final split.

 

So at least the LWF acknowledges that a split wasn't the end goal.

 

I thought this was interesting:

 

"The awareness is dawning on Lutherans and Catholics that the struggle of the 16th century is over," the report said. "The reasons for mutually condemning each other's faith have fallen by the wayside."

 

In my experience, Protestants today identify their faith more with their individual church than the movement that founded it. In other words, they really aren't "protesting" because they either don't pay much attention to Catholicism or they don't know much about their denomination's core theology. Like it's more church-based than denomination-driven.

[Basilisa Marie]

I don't think they're "celebrating" the Reformation or the fact that it happened.  It looks like they're "recognizing" the anniversary, and thought that it would be a better idea to mark such an important anniversary of one of the biggest splits in Christian history with a show of unity.  

 

 

[Kateri89]

Ummm....

 

I'm not sure that this is very wise.  The intent may be good but the perception will be that "We're all Christians, we all follow the same God, it's all good"...  How many people have no idea of the distinctions between the religions?  There are obviously very important distinctions.

 

"To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant" - Cardinal Newman

 

I doubt he would be impressed.

 

To give such an impression to the world at large will (I predict) further the popular image society has of Jesus as a hippie who loves everyone and doesn't require them to change their sinful ways.  In my opinion, if people don't think that the differences between Catholics and Protestants are important, then they don't truly understand.  And if that's the case, they're more likely to follow the Protestant line of thinking.  I don't intend this to sound disrespectful, but Catholics seem to recognize the sacredness of many things that Protestants just don't.  This is why we have candles, statues, tabernacles, etc.  I believe many Protestants are trying to follow Christ but have yet to discover the overwhelming truth of Him in the Catholic faith.

[HisChildForever]

I don't think they're "celebrating" the Reformation or the fact that it happened.  It looks like they're "recognizing" the anniversary, and thought that it would be a better idea to mark such an important anniversary of one of the biggest splits in Christian history with a show of unity.  

 

Yeah that's my impression.

 

I wonder if Pope Francis will be involved in this?

[Basilisa Marie]

Yeah that's my impression.

 

I wonder if Pope Francis will be involved in this?

 

I would assume so.  It'd be weird if he weren't. 

[Apotheoun]

Personally I am not really that interested in marking the beginning of the Reformation, but I am interested in seeing if the LWF still exists in 5 or 10 years.

[Luigi]

Ummm....

 

I'm not sure that this is very wise.  The intent may be good but the perception will be that "We're all Christians, we all follow the same God, it's all good"...  How many people have no idea of the distinctions between the religions?  There are obviously very important distinctions.

 

"To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant." - Cardinal Newman  The way I read this sentence, the recognition of our shared history is a step away from Protestantism. Am I interpreting it incorrectly?

 

I doubt he would be impressed. 

 

To give such an impression to the world at large will (I predict) further the popular image society has of Jesus as a hippie who loves everyone and doesn't require them to change their sinful ways.  In my opinion, if people don't think that the differences between Catholics and Protestants are important, then they don't truly understand.  And if that's the case, they're more likely to follow the Protestant line of thinking.  I don't intend this to sound disrespectful, but Catholics seem to recognize the sacredness of many things that Protestants just don't.  This is why we have candles, statues, tabernacles, etc.  I believe many Protestants are trying to follow Christ but have yet to discover the overwhelming truth of Him in the Catholic faith.

 

You do understand that not all Protestants think alike? Lutherans are only one kind of Protestant. Have you ever been to a Lutheran liturgy? In at least some of the Lutheran denominations, the liturgy is word-for-word the same as the Catholic liturgy (I'm referring to Mass here, not Liturgy of the Hours). There are, of course, differences in theological understanding of those words, but Lutheran theology is really not very distant from Catholic theology on a number of issues.  They use candles, they sing hymns accompanied by organ, the ministers wear liturgical garb, and so forth. If we're ever going to repair the splits that have occurred in Christianity over the course of all these centuries, we have to start somewhere; it seems to me that we should start with the the denominations that are closest to us theologically. 

 

That said, there range of liturgical (and perhaps theological) differences within the Lutheran church is just about as broad as the range within the Catholic Church. There are guitar liturgies, more liberal & more conservative branches, and so forth. 

[Luigi]

Ummm....

 

I'm not sure that this is very wise.  The intent may be good but the perception will be that "We're all Christians, we all follow the same God, it's all good"...  How many people have no idea of the distinctions between the religions?  There are obviously very important distinctions.

 

"To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant." - Cardinal Newman  The way I read this sentence, the recognition of our shared history is a step away from Protestantism. Am I interpreting it incorrectly?

 

I doubt he would be impressed. 

 

To give such an impression to the world at large will (I predict) further the popular image society has of Jesus as a hippie who loves everyone and doesn't require them to change their sinful ways.  In my opinion, if people don't think that the differences between Catholics and Protestants are important, then they don't truly understand.  And if that's the case, they're more likely to follow the Protestant line of thinking.  I don't intend this to sound disrespectful, but Catholics seem to recognize the sacredness of many things that Protestants just don't.  This is why we have candles, statues, tabernacles, etc.  I believe many Protestants are trying to follow Christ but have yet to discover the overwhelming truth of Him in the Catholic faith.

 

You do understand that not all Protestants think alike? Lutherans are only one kind of Protestant. Have you ever been to a Lutheran liturgy? In at least some of the Lutheran denominations, the liturgy is word-for-word the same as the Catholic liturgy (I'm referring to Mass here, not Liturgy of the Hours). There are, of course, differences in theological understanding of those words, but Lutheran theology is really not very distant from Catholic theology on a number of issues.  They use candles, they sing hymns accompanied by organ, the ministers wear liturgical garb, and so forth. If we're ever going to repair the splits that have occurred in Christianity over the course of all these centuries, we have to start somewhere; it seems to me that we should start with the the denominations that are closest to us theologically. 

 

That said, there range of liturgical (and perhaps theological) differences within the Lutheran church is just about as broad as the range within the Catholic Church. There are guitar liturgies, more liberal & more conservative branches, and so forth. 

[Luigi]

Ummm....

 

I'm not sure that this is very wise.  The intent may be good but the perception will be that "We're all Christians, we all follow the same God, it's all good"...  How many people have no idea of the distinctions between the religions?  There are obviously very important distinctions.

 

"To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant." - Cardinal Newman  The way I read this sentence, the recognition of our shared history is a step away from Protestantism. Am I interpreting it incorrectly?

 

I doubt he would be impressed. 

 

To give such an impression to the world at large will (I predict) further the popular image society has of Jesus as a hippie who loves everyone and doesn't require them to change their sinful ways.  In my opinion, if people don't think that the differences between Catholics and Protestants are important, then they don't truly understand.  And if that's the case, they're more likely to follow the Protestant line of thinking.  I don't intend this to sound disrespectful, but Catholics seem to recognize the sacredness of many things that Protestants just don't.  This is why we have candles, statues, tabernacles, etc.  I believe many Protestants are trying to follow Christ but have yet to discover the overwhelming truth of Him in the Catholic faith.

 

You do understand that not all Protestants think alike? Lutherans are only one kind of Protestant. Have you ever been to a Lutheran liturgy? In at least some of the Lutheran denominations, the liturgy is word-for-word the same as the Catholic liturgy (I'm referring to Mass here, not Liturgy of the Hours). There are, of course, differences in theological understanding of those words, but Lutheran theology is really not very distant from Catholic theology on a number of issues.  They use candles, they sing hymns accompanied by organ, the ministers wear liturgical garb, and so forth. If we're ever going to repair the splits that have occurred in Christianity over the course of all these centuries, we have to start somewhere; it seems to me that we should start with the the denominations that are closest to us theologically. 

 

That said, there range of liturgical (and perhaps theological) differences within the Lutheran church is just about as broad as the range within the Catholic Church. There are guitar liturgies, more liberal & more conservative branches, and so forth.