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Lutherans bristle at suggestion of joining Catholic Church
Reuters ^ | January 22, 2013 | om Heneghan

Posted on 01/22/2013 1:41:25 PM PST by NYer

PARIS (Reuters) - Two leading Lutheran clerics have rejected suggestions from the Vatican that it could create a subdivision for converted Lutherans similar to its structures for Anglicans who join the Roman Catholic Church.

The dispute, concerning tiny numbers of believers but major issues in ecumenical relations, comes as the churches mark the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this week.

Rev Martin Junge, the Chilean-born secretary general of the World Lutheran Federation (WLF), said in a statement that the suggestion caused great concern and would "send wrong signals to LWF member churches around the world."

Bishop Friedrich Weber, the German Lutheran liaison with the Catholic Church, said the idea was unthinkable and amounted to "an unecumenical incitement to switch sides."

The Vatican announced special structures for disaffected Anglicans in 2009, creating a so-called ordinariate so conservatives opposed to female and homosexual bishops could become Catholic while retaining some of their traditions.

Several thousand Anglicans, including dozens of priests and a few bishops, have joined ordinariates established in England, Australia and Canada. Married clergy are exempted from the obligatory celibacy of the Catholic priesthood.

Relations among Christian churches have improved greatly since the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council and most now see each other more as partners than as competitors. A Catholic bishop attended an ecumenical service Weber celebrated last Sunday.

But this Vatican welcome has raised suspicions among some Protestants that the Catholic Church, which makes up half the world's 2.2 billion Christians, now wants to woo away believers from smaller churches torn by internal debate.

While the Vatican's opening to Anglicans followed years of bitter public splits in that church, few of the world's 75 million Lutherans seem interested in reunification with Rome.

Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, said the Vatican would consider creating an ordinariate if Lutherans asked for one.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Ecumenism; Mainline Protestant
KEYWORDS: christians; lutheran; vatican
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1 posted on 01/22/2013 1:41:34 PM PST by NYer
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To: netmilsmom; thefrankbaum; Tax-chick; GregB; saradippity; Berlin_Freeper; Litany; SumProVita; ...

Ping!


2 posted on 01/22/2013 1:43:29 PM PST by NYer ("Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." --Jeremiah 1:5)
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To: NYer

Finally some True Ecumenism coming out of the Vatican, after a half century of failed false ecumenism.


3 posted on 01/22/2013 2:15:39 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: NYer
The same issues that beset the Anglican Communion also apply to the Lutheran communities.
4 posted on 01/22/2013 2:18:27 PM PST by wideawake
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To: NYer
Ha! Up here, the Lutheran/Catholic split is similar to the race difference down South.

Actually, It does effectively separate the Swedes from the Germans.

5 posted on 01/22/2013 2:20:27 PM PST by Aevery_Freeman (Proud Thought Criminal since 1984)
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To: NYer
few of the world's 75 million Lutherans seem interested in reunification with Rome.

So ... what?

Do those many Lutherans who seem uninterested in reunification with "Rome" wish to stand in the way of the few that do? Are those many attempting to impose their interpretation of Scripture on the few?

Very interesting.

6 posted on 01/22/2013 2:22:31 PM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: NYer
The liberal wing of the Lutheran denomination is terrified of this development. By respecting Lutheran pieties and yet reconciling with the Mother Church, it would seriously hasten the already precipitous decline of the ELCA.
7 posted on 01/22/2013 2:35:05 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: NYer

Tough choice for Lutherans, between the discipline of the Catholic church and the gayness of the ELCA.


8 posted on 01/22/2013 2:38:18 PM PST by Last Dakotan
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To: NYer

FYI, we don’t sell indulgences anymore!


9 posted on 01/22/2013 2:58:36 PM PST by jimmygrace
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To: jimmygrace
FYI, we don’t sell indulgences anymore!

Neither do we.

10 posted on 01/22/2013 3:03:04 PM PST by NYer ("Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." --Jeremiah 1:5)
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To: NYer

We will welcome them with open arms.


11 posted on 01/22/2013 3:06:24 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: NYer


12 posted on 01/22/2013 3:07:18 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: jimmygrace
FYI, we don’t sell indulgences anymore!

That depends on how one defines "sell", and what the agreed-upon unit of exchange is.

A more accurate phrasing might be "FYI, we don’t sell indulgences for coin anymore!"

13 posted on 01/22/2013 3:30:01 PM PST by Alex Murphy ("If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all" - Isaiah 7:9)
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To: jimmygrace

You are correct.


14 posted on 01/22/2013 3:49:20 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: NYer; smvoice; RnMomof7; metmom; boatbums; caww; Iscool; presently no screen name; daniel1212; ...
>> The Vatican announced special structures for disaffected Anglicans in 2009, creating a so-called ordinariate so conservatives opposed to female and homosexual bishops could become Catholic while retaining some of their traditions.<

“While retaining some of their traditions.” Well, they do have a history of that don’t they.

15 posted on 01/22/2013 3:51:07 PM PST by CynicalBear
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To: NYer

“raised suspicions among some Protestants that the Catholic Church, which makes up half the world’s 2.2 billion Christians, now wants to woo away believers from smaller churches torn by internal debate”

Ya think? I’d say that is pretty transparently their plan. Of course, the Protestant churches are playing right into their hands by continuing to liberalize their churches, thereby driving away the most faithful believers.


16 posted on 01/22/2013 4:43:58 PM PST by Boogieman
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To: NYer; Reaganite Republican; Clintons Are White Trash; HerrBlucher; mgist; raptor22; victim soul; ...
+

Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:

Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.

17 posted on 01/22/2013 5:42:47 PM PST by narses
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To: NYer; Reaganite Republican; Clintons Are White Trash; HerrBlucher; mgist; raptor22; victim soul; ...
+

Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:

Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.

18 posted on 01/22/2013 5:43:29 PM PST by narses
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To: Alex Murphy
Financial Blessings for you!
19 posted on 01/22/2013 8:22:32 PM PST by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: NYer
Lutherans bristle at suggestion of joining Catholic Church

So do the REST of us "incomplete" Protestants!

20 posted on 01/23/2013 3:56:24 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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