Pope Francis has told Lutheran pilgrims from Finland that Martin Luther’s intention 500 years ago “was to renew the Church, not divide her”.
The Pope was speaking to an Evangelical Lutheran delegation led by Archbishop Kari Mäkinen of Turku, which visits Rome each year during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
He said: “True ecumenism is based on a shared conversion to Jesus Christ as our Lord and redeemer. If we draw close to him, we draw close also to one another.” He added that “a communion of harmony” would help Catholics and Lutherans “find further convergence on points of doctrine and the moral teaching of the Church”.
The Pope recalled his trip to Sweden last October to mark the start of the Reformation, saying that it was a “significant step” that “gave us courage” for the ecumenical journey ahead.
“After 50 years of official ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans,” he said, “we have succeeded in clearly articulating points of view which today we agree on. For this we are grateful.
“At the same time we keep alive in our hearts sincere contrition for our faults,” the Pope said. “In this spirit, we recalled in Lund that the intention of Martin Luther 500 years ago was to renew the Church, not divide Her. The gathering there gave us the courage and strength, in our Lord Jesus Christ, to look ahead to the ecumenical journey that we are called to walk together.”
Materials for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, published by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, say that, after 50 years of dialogue, “Catholics are now able to hear Luther’s challenge for the Church of today, recognising him as a ‘witness to the Gospel'”.
Abuse survivors’ group denies taking kickbacks from lawyers
A former director of development for Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (Snap) has charged in a wrongful termination lawsuit that Snap is more interested in fundraising and taking kickbacks from lawyers suing the Church than helping survivors.In a suit filed last week, Gretchen Rachel Hammond accused Snap of being “a commercial organisation” that was “premised upon farming out abuse survivors as clients for attorneys, who then file lawsuits on behalf of survivors and collect settlement cheques from the Catholic Church”.
Ms Hammond worked for Snap from July 2011 to February 2013, and is now a journalist for the Windy City Times. She claims she was fired in retaliation for a series of discoveries she made about the way settlements were being handled, and that the stress caused by Snap’s treatment of her led to a series of health problems.
She also said that Snap was “motivated by its directors’ and officers’ personal and ideological animus against the Catholic Church.” Snap president Barbara Blaine said the allegations were not true. “This will be proven in court,” she added.
Nun’s habit is banned at school
A nun who teaches at a school in Nebraska has been told that she is not allowed to wear her habit in the classroom.Sister Madeleine Miller told Associated Press: “I could have been arrested, jailed, fined or had my licence taken away if I had tried to teach.”
State lawmakers are now seeking to reverse a 1919 law that bans any religious clothing. It was passed under pressure from the Ku Klux Klan.
