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Walter Cardinal Kasper, outgoing secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), brings ecumenical greetings from the Roman Catholic Church to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Eleventh Assembly, 20-27 July 2010, in Stuttgart, Germany. © LWF/Erick Coll

22.07.2010

“Lutherans and Catholics Can No Longer Afford Our Differences”

Cardinal Kasper Says There Has Been “No Ecumenical Winter”

STUTTGART, Germany, 21 July 2010 – Addressing the Eleventh Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) today, the recently retired President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity said that he felt “deep emotion and gratitude” looking back on “these years of such rich and enriching cooperation with the Lutheran World Federation.”

Walter Cardinal Kasper said that “Lutheran-Catholic relations have been since the beginning of our international dialogue … in my heart and will remain in my heart.”

Referring to his recent book about the ecumenical movement, Harvesting the Fruits, Kasper said, “I was more than surprised to see such a rich harvest and that we have achieved much more than we could even dream before. There has been no ecumenical winter.”

He said that the 1999 signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was “a milestone of the ecumenical movement.”

Kasper paid tribute to LWF President Bishop Mark S. Hanson and LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko as “good friends” of Lutheran-Roman Catholic relationships.

But the ecumenical agenda is still unfinished. “We have every reason to continue and even to intensify and deepen our dialogues,” the Cardinal said. Referring to the Assembly theme, “Give Us Today Our Daily Bread,” he said that the millions of people who lack daily bread are “our common responsibility,” and that Lutherans and Roman Catholics “can no longer afford our differences” when it comes to helping people in need.

“Our dialogues must continue,” he said, “but at the same time we have to reflect on how to engage more in common cultural, social and environmental projects.”

The cardinal retired as President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity on 1 July this year.

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