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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, DECEMBER 30, 1983
ON THE WORLD SCENE
"LUTHERJAHR" INSPIRES NEW ECUMENICAL LOOK
AT PROTESTANTISM'S "GREAT REFORMER"
PAGE 7
Before 1983 fades into history, it would be well to take note of a recent
significant anniversary--the 500th anniversary, on November 10, 1983, of
the birth of Martin Luther. Strangely enough, the iron-willed ex-Augustin
ian monk who broke with Rome, who called the church of Rome the "whore of
Babylon," is being held up today by both Protestant and Catholic theo
logians as an ecumenical beacon to enlighten the path toward church unity.
Pope John Paul II, in recognition of Luther's quintecentennial, recently
praised Luther for his "profound religiousness." Then on Sunday, December
11, the Pope made another conciliatory gesture--visiting a Lutheran church
in Rome. Here is an ASSOCIATED PRESS dispatch from Rome concerning this
historic visit:
Pope John Paul II, in a historic visit to a Lutheran church, said
Sunday that despite bitter past differences between Roman Catho
lics and Lutherans, "we desire unity, we work for unity." It was
the first time a Pope had attended a service of the Lutheran
Church, which is founded on the precepts of Martin Luther (1483-
1546). A German priest until his excommunication, Luther led the
Protestant Reformation that split the Roman Catholic Church 462
years ago.
"I have come in the spirit of the Lord that calls us in our days,
through ecumenical dialogue, in the search for full Christian
unity," the pontiff said in German. "And in the 500th anniver
sary of the birth of Martin Luther, we seem to discern from far
away the dawning of an advent of� recomposition of our unity and
community.... We desire unity, we work for unity, without letting
ourselves get discouraged by the difficulty we encounter along
our way."
John Paul was without his miter--the symbol of the papacy--when
his host, Pastor Christoph Meyer, greeted him as bishop of Rome
at the [Evangelical-Lutheran Christ Church l.... The service did
not include Holy Communion, a sacrament that the two churches
celebrate differently.•..
John Paul has visited other Protestant churches in his travels
around the world, but this is the first trip in Rome to a church
that once considered the Pope the "Anti-Christ." The papal visit
was announced on the same day last month that the Vatican re
leased a letter by John Paul praising Luther for his "profound
religiousness." In the letter commemorating the 500th anniver
sary Nov. 11 of the birth of Luther, John Paul also called for a
re-evaluation of the man who shattered the unified Catholic
Church in the West-.
- -- --
Luther was excommunicated in 1521 for attacking widespread views
that salvation could be earned by good works, such as paying for
Masses and indulgences to avert penalties in purgatory.
His
theory that salvation comes only through faith in God's mercy
became a basic doctrine of the Protestant faiths, formed after