Several commemorative events will be held in Augsburg, Germany, over the next two days to celebrate the signing of a landmark ecumenical agreement made ten years ago between representatives of the the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Roman Catholic Church.
It was on Oct. 31, 1999, that the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), considered one of the most significant agreements since the Reformation, was signed by church officials from the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation, which today represents 66.7 million of the world’s 70.2 million Lutherans.
Members of the World Methodist Council later adopted the document by unanimous vote as well, in 2006, and will be present for this weekend’s commemorative events.
“For hundreds of years, the issue of justification by faith divided Catholics and Protestants,” said Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of The United Methodist Church’s Council of Bishops, in a released statement. “This agreement celebrates consensus on the basic truths of the doctrine of justification.”
Oct 31 2009
