Lutheran Ping!
Posted on 10/19/2009 7:00:09 AM PDT by marshmallow
Vatican City, Oct 16, 2009 / 01:07 pm (CNA).- During the presentation of the book, “Harvesting the Fruits. Fundamental Aspects of the Christian Faith in Ecumenical Dialogue. Consensus, Convergences and Differences,” the president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper, announced that Pope Benedict XVI will soon visit the Lutheran Church of Rome.
During the ceremony, Cardinal Kasper explained that “the Pope has the intention of visiting the Lutheran Church of Rome,” although a date has not yet been set.
Regarding the book, the cardinal said it was the result of “two years of intense efforts I undertook with officials of my pontifical council, in collaboration with our consultors and ecumenical partners.”
He further explained that the work analyzes “the main Protestant communities that were the first to establish ties with the Church following the Second Vatican Council, as well as examining the current situation, "with an eye both to the past and to the future.”
Cardinal Kasper also announced that a symposium, due to be held in February 2010, will use the book as its starting point to discuss the future of Western ecumenism.
This is the abbreviated title....... :-)
Interesting.
didgya see this?
Nope. Just what is the Lutheran Church of Rome? Google doesn't give much except for a copy of this article.
I don't imagine it's a large community but the visit is largely symbolic.
Comunità Evangelica Luterana di Roma, Via Toscana 7, 0018 Roma
Pastor: The Rev. Matthias Fricke-Zieseniß, Tel: +39 06 4817519
They have their services in German at 10 AM on Sundays and at 12 PM (in Italian) on the Second Sunday of the Month.
but the visit is largely symbolic.
Cool. The Euro-weenie side of the Lutheran church is big into symbolism! kilometer-wide, micrometer-deep religion!
The Pope has studied Luther extensively:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1397604/posts
You’ve got to remember that the Pope spent over twenty-five years teaching in Germany, followed by five years as the Archbishop of Munich and Freising before going to the Vatican. It is unlikely that someone who was not at least somewhat sympathetic to Lutheranism could have held such positions in Germany.
Well, it was part of the academic culture.
Though it was more Prussian Unionism (the attempted fusion of the Reformed and Lutheran churches) that has been held at many of the top seminaries.
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