500 years after the Reformation: End the schism!

National Catholic Reporter ^ | March 1, 2017 | Hans Kung

[ebb tide]

Hans Küng, Catholic priest and Swiss theologian, has taken great pains to end the 16th-century schism between Catholics and Protestants since he wrote his doctoral dissertation on "Justification. The Teaching of Karl Barth and a Catholic Reflection" in 1957. He continues that work today with the release of the statement below, which is being published simultaneously by National Catholic Reporter and The Tablet.

Küng has collected all his writings on the Justification Doctrine in the first volume of his collected works, which is being published by the German publishing house Herder. Sixty years ago, Küng's work led to the consensus reached by both churches on this central matter of dispute. The remaining 23 volumes of Küng's collected works document his efforts for ecumenical understanding and peace between denominations and religions.

It was most gratifying that the chairman of the Protestant Churches in Germany, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, accompanied by the president of the German Catholic bishops' conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, officially visited Pope Francis in Rome together on the occasion of the Reformation Jubilee. The Pope spoke of "an already reconciled diversity." He said he greatly appreciated the spiritual and theological gifts that the Reformation had given us and that he wanted to do everything he could "to overcome the obstacles that still remained."

Already in September 2016, Bishop Bedford-Strohm and Cardinal Marx presented their "Common Word" entitled "Healing Memories — Bearing Witness to Christ." After five centuries of condemning and inflicting wounds upon each other, both the two leading Churches in Germany declared that they intended to celebrate the Reformation anniversary together as a "Feast for Jesus Christ."

A further pivotal point in the commemoration process will be the main Service of Repentance and Reconciliation that the Council of the Protestant Churches and the Catholic bishops' conference will celebrate together at Hildesheim on March 11, 2017.

We have, however, heard Vatican declarations of intent and suggestions of repentance and reconciliation all too often. We ecumenically committed Christians at long last want to see actions. Unfortunately, the "Common Word" does not mention the deadlock that exists in both church hierarchies on the decisive issues and disregards the fact that in many Protestant and Catholic communities, ecumenism has already been practiced for a long time now. For these communities, mutual recognition of each other's ministries and Eucharistic hospitality are no longer a problem. Church leaders lag far behind them. If the leaders do not take the matter of "overcoming the still remaining obstacles" seriously, they alone will have to bear the responsibility for not doing so before God and the faithful.

In the 2017 Jubilee Year, those responsible should consistently put the results of the ecumenical Dialogue Commissions into practice. The Catholic Church should consider the following issues:

*Martin Luther's rehabilitation,

*Lifting all the excommunications that were pronounced in the Reformation era,

*Recognizing Protestant and Anglican ministries,

*Mutual Eucharistic hospitality.

Innumerable Christians want to see the Protestant side bring these postulates to the attention of the Catholic Church just as clearly and outspokenly — but naturally not without the necessary self-criticism. Merely celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation without really ending the schism means incurring yet more guilt. May the pressure exerted by theologians, grassroots Christians, Christian communities, and many committed men and women help the church leadership in Rome and elsewhere, which is so often hesitant and afraid, not to miss this historic opportunity but to wake up, otherwise yet more people will turn away from the Church and more communities and groups will take the law into their own hands! In today's globalized, secularized world, Christianity will only come across as credible if it presents itself in truly reconciled diversity.

[Fr. Hans Küng is a Swiss citizen and professor emeritus of ecumenical theology at Tübingen University in Germany. This article was translated from the German by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt.]

[Regulator]

But “reconciliation” always seems to mean we will get to be Roman Catholic

And of course swear fealty to the Marxist Pope.

And do I get my ancestors back who got slaughtered in the anti-Baptist pogroms in Germany 300 years ago? Or the massacre in France on St. Bartholomew's day of my Huegenot ancestors? The one that drove them onto wooden ships out of Rotterdam and into the Atlantic to America?

[SoFloFreeper]

So the Council of Trent is going to be rescinded by Rome?
I love my RC brothers and sisters, but we may be not able to completely unify until the Last Day.

We do have lots in common to work together on: affirming the sanctity of the unborn human, for example. And what a wonderful coincidence: today, March 1, marks the first of the 40 days of life.

[Gamecock]

Hans Küng, Catholic priest and Swiss theologian, has taken great pains to end the 16th-century schism between Catholics and Protestants since he wrote his doctoral dissertation on "Justification. The Teaching of Karl Barth and a Catholic Reflection" in 1957.

Thoughts?
I don't know enough about Barth to comment.

[Luircin]

Of course you don’t. It’s their own fault. They should have been Catholic. (Insert sarcasm tag.)

[PittsburghAfterDark]

I just define religion, loosely, as man putting himself between you and God.

I do agree with e concept of a universal church.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

I see no mention of a denomination or church in that.

[BlatherNaut]

Hans Küng is merely a spoke in the wheel. The end game is one-world religion.

....................

Pope Francis Encourages the One-World Church?
By Cornelia R. Ferreira

“...The UR is a United Nations project.[1] It was heralded in June 1995 by Bishop Swing at the occult, earth-worshipping interfaith service he was invited to conduct for the UN, honoring the 50th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter. Attending the service in San Francisco’s Episcopal Grace Cathedral were political luminaries and representatives of all religions, including Britain’s Princess Margaret, Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Polish President Lech Walesa, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Archbishop Renato Martino (Vatican nuncio to the UN), and Archbishop John Quinn of San Francisco.

The UR is meant to be for religions what the UN is for nations. Its purpose is to be the world religious authority, “a UN for religion” in order to foster peace. Delegates to its charter-writing summit in 1997 considered they had given birth to a “movement as well as a spiritual institution”. “[T]ell the people that there is a United Religions,” said Swing. It will shine “the light of the world’s spiritual traditions [paganism and occultism included] into a world desperately in need of light.” It aims to solve issues of environment, population, poverty and disease whilst building religious unity...”

........................

[Shimon] Peres’ proposal to Francis to set up a UN of religions

“...Due to the power of religions and the Pope’s charisma, Peres would like Pope Francis to lead the proposed UN of religions: “When I look around me I notice one thing: perhaps for the first time in history the Holy Father is a leader who has the respect of many people as well as the most diverse religions and their representatives. Indeed, he may actually be the only leader they really respect. Hence the idea I proposed to Francis...”

[BlatherNaut]

Link: http://www.cfnews.org/page88/files/4414cfe2eee76e5a00f3be03226bfcf2-260.html

[Regulator]

They should have been Catholic

Yes, and then let God sort them out, as the Bishop told de Montfort just before the Albigensian slaughter

[Iscool]

Go for it...Keep thinin’ the crowd so those of us left can fit thru that narrow gate...

[ebb tide]

Thanks for the link.

[NRx]

We would be thrilled to have the catholics enter our protestant churches. But “reconciliation” always seems to mean we will get to be Roman Catholic.

In this case I am 99% sure he is talking about Catholics becoming Protestants.

[Yulee]

The movement of large liberal denominations toward the social gospel, the the current liberal bent of the Roman Catholic Pope, and the watering down of all biblical law and morality, foreshadows the establishment of a worldwide group calling itself the “True church” of the last days.

This “church” will in no way hold to biblical morality or law, and will hold itself above the law, proclaiming that God is all forgiving and there is no such thing as individual repentance or acceptance of salvation in the name of Yeshua.

[ebb tide]

In this case I am 99% sure he is talking about Catholics becoming Protestants.

I agree. And I think Bergoglio did so long ago.

[GCC Catholic]

Küng has been a crypto-Protestant since the days of Vatican II, and his opinions have the same disease within them that afflicts liberal Protestant denominations. All the while, he really doesn’t want to address the issues, only hand wave over them and say they aren’t really problems.

If what he desired would come to pass and the Pope would be on board, the end result would be a new schism in the Catholic Church (while possibly not ending the old one), the declaration of sede-vacante, and the election of a new Pope by those Catholics who still hold to the teachings of the 21 Ecumenical Councils.

In the end, nobody would be happy and everyone would lose.

[blue-duncan]

Kung and Barth are/were theistic evolutionists which carried to its logical conclusion is mankind will ultimately be like god. Kung also is in favor of euthanasia which seems to be a contradiction in evolutionary thinking.

[rwilson99]

Worked out great for Anne Boylyn after all.

[chuckles]

The main problem with this is I've read and studied the Bible. I can't believe anyone that has studied Scripture and history can still be Catholic. The RCC is clearly the "Whore of Babylon" in Revelation. Rev 18:4 is God calling out to His people to "come out of her" or suffer the consequences. Paul calls forbidding to marry "doctrines of demons". The verses are numerous directed directly at the RCC. We are told not to pray repetitive prayers, that Jesus is our ONLY Mediator, not to pray to idols, and on and on. The one I could never figure out is Mat 16:14-19. How anyone could figure that Jesus was talking about making Peter the first pope is beyond me. He made it plain to anyone reading that the Father in Heaven tells you Jesus is the Christ and that man CANNOT reveal this to you. The church is built upon the Holy Spirit calling men into the Body of Christ and revealing spiritual things to carnal people. That's the Universal Church. That is what Jesus was making plain there. You can ONLY be saved by grace, THROUGH FAITH, not belonging to a denomination.Denominations, by definition, are "traditions of men". We spend all of our time fighting over dogma instead of doctrine revealed in Scripture.

Any student of History shows that when Jesus ascended to Heaven, James took over the church. Peter was never mentioned other than just another apostle starting churches. There are no popes, cardinals, and no nuns mentioned in the Bible. All of this was made up by men. The church Jesus started went from 33AD to around ~300-320 AD, when Constantine mixed "Babylonian" religion with Christianity. This was the beginning of "fornication" with the kings of the earth. He forsook almost everything Biblical and Jewish with pagan religion. He changed the calendar and Feast Days, to pagan days like Christmas and Easter from Tabernacles and Passover. He changed the calendar from 360 days to 365 days, months from 30 days to various counts, changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, ect. In the letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3, we find the church at Thyatira. Thyatira was Nimrod's daughter's name. The Spirit of Jezebel is in the RCC. Mary is NOT a prophetess. Her sexual immorality is messing with idols. It's the only church that specifically says they will be left behind in the Rapture if they refuse to repent.p You can be "saved" and be Catholic, but the problems start when the Catholic church is raised above Jesus. There is so much error in the teachings, the members are confused to the truth. The main error for me is thinking we are saved by anything other that faith. We receive grace when we show faith in Jesus as Savior. It has nothing to do with memberships, baptisms, religious classes, and repeating prayers. The thief on the cross confessed Jesus as who He said he was and Jesus confirmed he would be with Him in Paradise that day. There are NO WORKS involved. Works come as a result of salvation. If you believe that a mob boss can go to heaven just because he was a wheel in the RCC and gave money to his parish, you miss the whole point.

[Yashcheritsiy]

Dirty Prots!

[Yashcheritsiy]

I have no problem with faith.

I have a problem with religion.

Since Jesus Christ instituted His church (i.e. "religion," with all of the baggage of order and practice that comes with it), He obviously has a problem with neither.

[Yashcheritsiy]

And do I get my ancestors back who got slaughtered in the anti-Baptist pogroms in Germany 300 years ago? Or the massacre in France on St. Bartholomew's day of my Huegenot ancestors? The one that drove them onto wooden ships out of Rotterdam and into the Atlantic to America?

Essentially, practically the entirety of Catholic church history from the 5th century onward consists of Catholicism trying to stamp out periodic flare-ups of apostolic, baptistic doctrine and practice.