Fr Joe tedesco superior mepkin abbey
In response to Dr. Cormac O’Duffy and his vision to bring healing to the historical wounds of
Christian Disunity, I want to commend Dr. O‘Duffy on this inspired proposal and support him in
this effort.
As a Trappist monk, my life as a contemplative is characterized in our constitutions as a hidden
apostolic fruitfulness. This fruitfulness is the deepening of contemplation in the church. One
begins to understand in prayer the challenge of the disunity we experience in the church. The
prayer of Jesus for unity in John 17, invites us to reflect on this question and it brings one to
find ways to heal this wound in the Christian Church. The contemplative at prayer is
ministering to this woundedness. This is a deep wound and it can be healed if we can find
ways to pick up the dialogue thwarted so long ago. There is a yearning for unity in the world
and perhaps we all as Church can witness unity in this endeavor.
My pastoral work for many years as a diocesan priest with other Christian ministers, gave me
insights into the unity possible if we start to focus on all that unites us. I believe there is a
strong desire to find the way to unity.
Those years of closely working with Protestant clergy and their congregations, brought us close
together and unfortunately highlighted the disunity that prohibited the deeper reality of
communion to emerge that we all longed for. There was a sense that what kept us apart was
able to be resolved if the churches truly wanted it. The local churches surely did. One place to
start would be on agreeing to the Augsburg Confession. Failing to agree on the Confession in
1530 brought us to an impasse. Agreeing on it could start the whole process of reversing the
flow to further fragmentation and back toward that unity of John 17. As Avery Dulles said in
Oct. 1983,
‘The CA, in my judgment, retains undying importance for relations between Roman Catholicism
and the Reformation. It proposes, more clearly than any other confessional document, a catholic
vision of the Reformation. If those who profess to adhere to the CA still entertain that vision, and
wish to pursue its implementation along the lines here suggested, it may be possible to break
down the barriers to communion between these two great Christian traditions. Since Lutherans
and Roman Catholics, by their original failure to agree, precipitated the sad history of
fragmentation in Western Christianity, their reconciliation could have momentous consequences.
It might point the way back to a pluriform unity among all those churches which aspire to be
both evangelical and catholic. (1)
Father Joseph Tedesco OCSO
Superior
Mepkin Abbey
(1) Avery Dulles S.J. The Catholicity of the Augsburg Confession University of Chicago Press Journal of Religion October 1983No 4 Martin Luther 1483- 1983 Oct 1983 pp. 337-354
Christian Disunity, I want to commend Dr. O‘Duffy on this inspired proposal and support him in
this effort.
As a Trappist monk, my life as a contemplative is characterized in our constitutions as a hidden
apostolic fruitfulness. This fruitfulness is the deepening of contemplation in the church. One
begins to understand in prayer the challenge of the disunity we experience in the church. The
prayer of Jesus for unity in John 17, invites us to reflect on this question and it brings one to
find ways to heal this wound in the Christian Church. The contemplative at prayer is
ministering to this woundedness. This is a deep wound and it can be healed if we can find
ways to pick up the dialogue thwarted so long ago. There is a yearning for unity in the world
and perhaps we all as Church can witness unity in this endeavor.
My pastoral work for many years as a diocesan priest with other Christian ministers, gave me
insights into the unity possible if we start to focus on all that unites us. I believe there is a
strong desire to find the way to unity.
Those years of closely working with Protestant clergy and their congregations, brought us close
together and unfortunately highlighted the disunity that prohibited the deeper reality of
communion to emerge that we all longed for. There was a sense that what kept us apart was
able to be resolved if the churches truly wanted it. The local churches surely did. One place to
start would be on agreeing to the Augsburg Confession. Failing to agree on the Confession in
1530 brought us to an impasse. Agreeing on it could start the whole process of reversing the
flow to further fragmentation and back toward that unity of John 17. As Avery Dulles said in
Oct. 1983,
‘The CA, in my judgment, retains undying importance for relations between Roman Catholicism
and the Reformation. It proposes, more clearly than any other confessional document, a catholic
vision of the Reformation. If those who profess to adhere to the CA still entertain that vision, and
wish to pursue its implementation along the lines here suggested, it may be possible to break
down the barriers to communion between these two great Christian traditions. Since Lutherans
and Roman Catholics, by their original failure to agree, precipitated the sad history of
fragmentation in Western Christianity, their reconciliation could have momentous consequences.
It might point the way back to a pluriform unity among all those churches which aspire to be
both evangelical and catholic. (1)
Father Joseph Tedesco OCSO
Superior
Mepkin Abbey
(1) Avery Dulles S.J. The Catholicity of the Augsburg Confession University of Chicago Press Journal of Religion October 1983No 4 Martin Luther 1483- 1983 Oct 1983 pp. 337-354
message of hope FROM SWEDEN
Image of stockholm by bruno of pixabay
+anders cardinal arborelius, bishop of stockholm
first native swede to be cardinal of sweden, member of pontifical council for christian unity
The message of Augsburg
We can never thank God enough for what happened in Augsburg in the year of
grace 1999. Lutherans and Catholics realized – finally! – that they had the same
faith in God’s work of salvation and justification. The controversies from the
time of Reformation came to an end. Dialogue and mutual understanding
prevailed.
Still, there are different accents and ways of understanding the mystery of
justification in Catholic and Lutheran tradition. But now we are able to respect
and learn from each other when we reflect upon the wonderful mysteries of our
salvation in Christ. As a rule, Lutherans tend to speak more about justification,
whereas Catholics prefer to speak about sanctification. Orthodox, on the other
hand, love to speak about divinization. As Christians, all of us believe in the
saving, justifying, sanctifying and divinizing grace of God that Christ has
bestowed upon us.
After Augsburg, Lund followed in 2016. Pope Francis was invited to take part in
the Commemoration of the Reformation. In a very spectacular way, the process
of reconciliation between Lutherans and Catholics was stressed. The dialogue
must continue and become ever more intense. There are several dogmatical and
ethical questions that need to be discussed.
We must pray for light and guidance from the Holy Spirit. We are all invited to
a sincere conversion to the gospel. We need to proceed together on the path to
perfect and visible unity in Christ, so that we as baptized, as brothers and sisters,
together can give glory to the Father.
+Anders Cardinal Arborelius ocd
We can never thank God enough for what happened in Augsburg in the year of
grace 1999. Lutherans and Catholics realized – finally! – that they had the same
faith in God’s work of salvation and justification. The controversies from the
time of Reformation came to an end. Dialogue and mutual understanding
prevailed.
Still, there are different accents and ways of understanding the mystery of
justification in Catholic and Lutheran tradition. But now we are able to respect
and learn from each other when we reflect upon the wonderful mysteries of our
salvation in Christ. As a rule, Lutherans tend to speak more about justification,
whereas Catholics prefer to speak about sanctification. Orthodox, on the other
hand, love to speak about divinization. As Christians, all of us believe in the
saving, justifying, sanctifying and divinizing grace of God that Christ has
bestowed upon us.
After Augsburg, Lund followed in 2016. Pope Francis was invited to take part in
the Commemoration of the Reformation. In a very spectacular way, the process
of reconciliation between Lutherans and Catholics was stressed. The dialogue
must continue and become ever more intense. There are several dogmatical and
ethical questions that need to be discussed.
We must pray for light and guidance from the Holy Spirit. We are all invited to
a sincere conversion to the gospel. We need to proceed together on the path to
perfect and visible unity in Christ, so that we as baptized, as brothers and sisters,
together can give glory to the Father.
+Anders Cardinal Arborelius ocd
The Rev. Martin Junge, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, embraces a Catholic representative as Pope Francis embraces Archbishop Antje Jackelen, primate of the Lutheran Church in Sweden, right, during an ecumenical prayer service at the Lutheran cathedral in Lund, Sweden, Oct. 31. Anders Cardinal Arborelius is to the left back with Cardinal Koch. CNS photo/Paul Haring
catholic and lutheran groups working on the augsburg confession
the augustana working group of the international LUTHERAN council and the dicastery for the promotion of christian unity examining together the augsburg confession
The Augustana Working Group of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity and the International Lutheran Council at their inaugural meeting in Rome March 1-2 2024.
On March 1, 2024, the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (DPCU) hosted the inaugural meeting of the Concordia Lutheran–Catholic Augustana Working Group, which met in Rome until March 2, 2024.
Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the DPCU, welcomed the members of the working group and encouraged them to explore the pre-confessional/ecumenical potential of the Augsburg Confession in more detail in view of the 500th anniversary of the Confessio Augustana in 2030.(1) Members include:
Participants from the International Lutheran Council (ILC)
Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the DPCU, welcomed the members of the working group and encouraged them to explore the pre-confessional/ecumenical potential of the Augsburg Confession in more detail in view of the 500th anniversary of the Confessio Augustana in 2030.(1) Members include:
Participants from the International Lutheran Council (ILC)
- Bishop Dr. Juhana Pohjola, Helsinki, Finland (Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, ILC Chairman)
- Prof. Dr. Joel Elowsky, St. Louis, Mo., USA
- Prof. em. Dr. Werner Klän, D.Litt., Lübeck, Germany
- Asst. Prof. Dr. Jonathan Mumme, Hillsdale, Mich., USA
- Prof. Dr. Thomas Winger, St. Catharines, Ont., Canada
***
Prof. Dr. Klaus Detlev Schulz, Fort Wayne, Ind., USA (ILC General Secretary) – part-time participant, but not a member - Catholic Participants
- Auxiliary Bishop Dr. Peter Birkhofer, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
- Prof. Dr. Markus Lersch, Siegen, Germany
- Dr. Tim Lindfeld, Aachen, Germany
- Asst. Prof. Dr. James Prothro, Greenwood Village, Color., USA
- Father Dr. Augustinus Sander OSB, Vatican (Permanent Representative of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity)
(1) Both the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the International Lutheran Council (ILC) have agreed to joint studies with the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity on the Augsburg Confession. The Augustana Group (pictured above) represents the ILC while the membership of the LWF group has not yet been declared. This means both more conservative Lutherans (ILC) and more Liberal Lutherans (LWF) will be working with the Dicastery and Catholic Theologians towards a Common view on the Augsburg Confession of Melanchthon - the founding document of all Lutheranism. We pray that all might be led by the Holy Spirit to bring all God's people closer together, to agree and to heal the mistakes and wounds of the past.
Photos Mepkin Abbey and International Lutheran Council and the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity