Posted on 08/12/2016 3:59:59 PM PDT by ebb tide
Germany’s Catholic bishops have praised Martin Luther as a “Gospel witness and teacher of the faith” and called for closer ties with Protestants.
In a 206-page report, “The Reformation in Ecumenical Perspective”, Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg, chairman of the German bishops’ ecumenical commission, said the “history of the Reformation has encountered a changeable reception in the Catholic Church, where its events and protagonists were long seen in a negative, derogatory light”.
“While the wounds are still felt to the present day, it is gratifying that Catholic theology has succeeded, in the meantime, in soberly reconsidering the events of the 16th century,” he said in the report, published this week by Germany’s Bonn-based bishops’ conference.
Bishop Feige said the “history and consequences” of the Reformation would be debated during its upcoming 500th anniversary, but added that there was consensus that previous mutual condemnations were invalid.
“Memories of the Reformation and the subsequent separation of Western Christianity are not free from pain,” Bishop Feige said. “But through lengthy ecumenical dialogue, the theological differences rooted in the period have been re-evaluated – as is documented in the work presented by our ecumenical commission.”
Martin Lazar, the Magdeburg diocesan spokesman, told Catholic News Service on Wednesday that the Reformation still caused tensions in Germany, especially “in religiously separated families.”
The bishops’ report said the “Catholic Church may recognise today what was important in the Reformation – namely, that Sacred Scripture is the centre and standard for all Christian life.
“Connected with this is Martin Luther’s fundamental insight that God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ for the salvation of the people is proclaimed in the Gospel – that Jesus Christ is the centre of Scripture and the only mediator.”
The Reformation is traditionally dated from the October 1517 publication of Luther’s 95 Theses, questioning the sale of indulgences and the Gospel foundations of papal authority.
Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X in January 1521 and outlawed by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
The German bishops describe Luther as “a religious pathfinder, Gospel witness and teacher of the faith,” whose “concern for renewal in repentance and conversion” had not received an “adequate hearing” in Rome.
They said the reformer’s work still posed a “theological and spiritual challenge” and had “ecclesial and political implications for understanding the Church and the Magisterium.”
The report said a joint Catholic-Lutheran statement in 1980 commemorating the Augsburg Confession, which set out the new Lutheran faith, had been crucial in bringing churches closer, while another ecumenical statement in 1983, on the 500th anniversary of Luther’s birth, had started an “intensive engagement” with the reformer’s work.
A historic 1999 joint declaration on the doctrine of justification was a “milestone in ecumenical dialogue,” the report said, by recognising that remaining differences should “no longer have a church-dividing effect.”
The bishops’ report includes June 2015 conciliatory letters between the German bishops’ conference president, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, and Lutheran Bishop Heinrich Strohm, president of the Evangelical Church of Germany, outlining plans for a 2017 ecumenical pilgrimage to the Holy Land and a Lent service devoted to “healing memories.”
In an interview with CNS, the ecumenical commission’s deputy chairman, Bishop Heinz Algermissen of Fulda, said Catholic-Lutheran ties had improved since the Second Vatican Council, but that churches must work for “visible unity, not just reconciled diversity.”
“This means not only praying together, but meeting the challenge of speaking with one voice as Christians when we are all challenged by aggressive atheism and secularism, as well as by [radicalised] Islam. Otherwise we will lose more and more ground,” he said.
“In commemorating the Reformation, we cannot just see it as a jubilee, but should also admit our guilt for past errors and repent on both sides for the past 500 years,” he added.
Catholics make up 29 per cent of Germany’s 82 million inhabitants, with the Evangelical Church of Germany accounting for 27 per cent, although all denominations have faced declining membership.
Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls into heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.
US?
Sounds like Mary needs some saving; too!
Yes.
Indeed. Blessed Mary needed a Savior because of her dark sin - just like every human.
She did not, however, become a demigoddess. This is just "tradition."
Sounds like Mary needs some saving; too!
Only if you believe that those who have already entered into the life to come still need saving.
It seems that some of our separated FR Catholic brethren think that proclaiming, “You are a cheery picker!”, let’s them off of the hook tom have to explain or even respond to others.
Well, you certainly seem to be a CHEERY picker. :-)
She did not, however, become a demigoddess.
Agreed. She did not become a demigoddess.
Good!
It sounds like the 'greater piety' of those Jews who declared their gifts "Korban" that is, dedicated to God.
1 After this, Jesus addressed himself to the multitudes, and to his disciples; 2 The scribes and Pharisees, he said, have established themselves in the place from which Moses used to teach; 3 do what they tell you, then, continue to observe what they tell you, but do not imitate their actions, for they tell you one thing and do another -Matthew 23:1-3
Christ preached obedience, not rebellion. The spirit of obedience is humble and comes from God; the spirit of rebellion has another source.
“Christ preached obedience, not rebellion. The spirit of obedience “
He did not command people to obey the Pharisees - nor support the Pharisees, when the substituted their tradition for God’s commands.
Never, never even heard of it till yesterday. Must not have had any support.
I don’t agree, Luther’s writing on Mary are well known to well-read Lutherans. He was after all a professor in a Catholic school, what do you think he was taught? In retrospect, if they were over-archingly important to him, why did he not present them with the scriptural proofs? They just don’t pass scriptural muster so they aren’t doctrine.
You don’t agree that Lutherans are quiet on this point?
I ran outta nits! ;^)
I think Jimrob took the mindreading part outta spellcheck.
spellcheck shudda KNOWN what I meant!!
Co-Redemptrix, Ark of the Covenant, Cause of Our Joy, Cause of our Salvation, Comfort of the Afflicted, Destroyer of Heresy, Ever-virgin, Favoured Daughter of the Father, Gate of Heaven, God-bearer, Health of the Sick, Help of Christians, Holy Mary, Holy Mother of God, Holy Virgin of Virgins, House of Gold, Joy of the Just, Majesty, Mirror of Justice, Morning Star, Most Holy, Mother Admirable, Mother Inviolate, Mother Most Amiable, Mother Most Chaste, Mother Most Pure, Mother of Christ, Mother of Divine Grace, Mother of God, Mother of Good Counsel, Mother of Mercy, Mother of Orphans, Mother of Our Creator, Mother of Our Redeemer, Mother of Sorrows, Mother of the Church, Mother of the Poor, Mother of the Word, Mother Thrice Admirable, Mother Undefiled, Mystical Rose, Nova Eva (the New Eve), Our Lady of Compassion, Our Lady of Confidence, Our Lady of Victory, Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Our Mother of Perpetual Help, Queen Assumed Into Heaven, Queen Conceived Without Original Sin, Queen of All Saints, Queen of Angels, Queen of Apostles, Queen of Confessors, Queen of Families, Queen of Heaven, Queen of Martyrs, Queen of Patriarchs, Queen of Peace, Queen of Prophets, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Queen of Virgins, Ravisher of Hearts, Refuge of Sinners, Seat of Wisdom, She Who Shows the Way, Singular Vessel of Devotion, Spiritual Vessel, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Tabernacle of the Lord, Temple of the Most Holy Trinity, Throne of Wisdom, Tower of David, Tower of Ivory, Treasure House of God's Graces, Untier of Knots, Vessel of Honor, Virgin God-bearer, Virgin Most Faithful, Virgin Most Merciful, Virgin Most Powerful, Virgin Most Prudent, Virgin Most Renowned and (pant, pant, pant...) Virgin Most Venerable.
Let's try some easy math:
There are approximately 1.2 billion Catholics world wide;
If merely 1% of them 'ask' Mary for help just once each day;
that means that 12 million separate prayers are headed Mary's direction every day.
Given that there are 86,400 seconds per day... (24 hours times 60 minutes times 60 seconds)
...that means that Mary has to handle approximately 139 'requests' per second!
Purty good fer someone NOT 'divine'!
They’re selling for anywhere from $6.00 to $38.00. Surely somebody is buying them.
Suggestions:
That’s strange. The link still works for me on a different computer that I’m not even logged onto FR.
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