Photo: Lutheran World Federation
Press Release No: 16/39
31 October 2016
Brussels
Today a historic meeting takes place between Catholic and Lutheran leaders to mark the one year countdown to the 500th anniversary of the reformation. In Lund and Malmö (Sweden) Pope Francis of the Catholic Church will join Bishop Munib Younan and Rev. Dr Martin Junge, who represent the 145 churches of the Lutheran World Federation, at a service of common prayer at the Lund Cathedral. Decades of dialogue have led to this historic meeting, the first of its kind in history.
On this occasion, CEC President Rt Rev. Christopher Hill KCVO, DD and CEC General Secretary Fr Heikki Huttunen have sent the following message:
The Conference of European Churches, with a membership of Anglicans, Old Catholics, Protestant, and Orthodox churches knows within itself the historic divisions of the Reformation period. It also knows the God-given gift of reconciliation, which has transformed the configuration of the Churches in Europe from conflict towards communion.
We therefore send greetings of the Conference on the historic celebration of the Catholic-Lutheran dialogue personified by the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to the ancient university and cathedral of Lund.
As we join our Lutheran and other Protestant brothers and sisters in this year of celebrating the Reformation, it is good to remember the original will and inspiration of Martin Luther to reform the Catholic Church from the inside. Today, we can recognise together the urgency and intention of this reformatory inspiration, and identify with it, thanks to the ecumenical pilgrimage of reconciliation which enables us to appreciate the different traditions we are coming from and which takes us from conflict to communion.
The Lutheran World Federation has prepared a website for today’s events, including a live stream of the common prayer, which takes place at 14:30 CET. You may also wish to follow social media posts using the #togetherinhope hashtag.
For more information or an interview, please contact:
Erin Green
Communication Coordinator
Conference of European Churches
Rue Joseph II, 174 B-1000 Brussels
Tel. +32 2 234 68 42
Fax +32 2 231 14 13
E-mail: eeg@cec-kek.be
Website: www.ceceurope.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ceceurope
Twitter: @ceceurope
The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a fellowship of 115 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all across Europe, plus more than 40 National Council of Churches and Organisations in Partnership. CEC was founded in 1959. It has offices in Brussels and Strasbourg.