"Catholics and Lutherans Find Common Ground as Reformation's 500th Anniversary Approaches"

ncregister.com

"WASHINGTON — After 498 years since the Reformation, Catholics and Lutherans have moved from the divisions of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to 32 statements of agreement, according to a groundbreaking new document that summarizes the results of 50 years of ecumenical dialogue.

A new milestone in Catholic-Lutheran dialogue was marked in October, when top theologians, representing respectively the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), created a new baseline for further ecumenical discussion called 'Declaration on the Way,' which revealed how much closer the two churches had come together...

The declaration’s 32 'Statements of Agreement' on the nature of the church, ministry and the Eucharist — complete with supporting documentation and scholarship — are drawn from the past 50 years of Catholic-Lutheran national and international agreements...

It also contains suggestions for how both Catholic and Lutheran parishes could grow closer together, while the theological dialogue is ongoing.

'It has been well-received. The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity said they were happy with the document,' he said, adding the Vatican office suggested that the document be shared at the parish level — 'so that the people in the pews might get some benefit from it' — and be forwarded to International Commission for Lutheran Catholic Dialogue.

'We’re hoping that people will prayerfully heed this document,' Bishop Madden said.