From the goal to the objective” “

The fifth anniversary of the Augsburg Declaration on Justification was celebrated at Johannesburg, in South Africa, in recent days. It was in fact on 31 October 1999 that Pastor Ishmael Noko , general secretary of the World Lutheran Federation (WLF), and Cardinal Walter Kasper , president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, signed an accord in the German city of Augsburg that put an end to centuries of theological controversies, by establishing that “there is agreement between Catholics and Lutherans on the truths concerning the doctrine of justification”. The protagonists themselves, Noko and Kasper, opened the celebrations of the anniversary (under the motto “Justified: freed for life”). “The doctrine of justification – said Cardinal Kasper – has divided us for some 500 years, causing great suffering to men and women and to many peoples in Europe. Through our missionary work, we also exported our differences to other continents”. The signing of the joint declaration on justification represents a “milestone” in the ecumenical process. It was achieved after a long process of dialogue begun in the mid-1960s, immediately after Vatican Council II. By signing the Declaration, the Catholic Church and the Lutheran Federation declared together that they had reached an agreement on fundamental truths regarding justification and affirmed that the condemnations that Catholics and Lutherans had expressed of each other, no longer had any reason to exist. “We have reached an important goal – continued Kasper – but we haven’t yet reached the final objective”: hence the appeal to look to the future. “The doctrine of justification – said Ishmael Noko – is still unfamiliar, even among the most active members of our churches”. Yet “the gift of justice through grace that God gives us has important implications for the human practice of social justice”. The capital of South African was not chosen by chance to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Declaration: Johannesburg – the city that suffered the tragic ideology of apartheid – has now become a symbol of “freedom from all oppression, from self-justification, from the temptation to succumb to resignation”. Cardinal Kasper also invited those present to look to the questions that could be re-opened for scrutiny after the Declaration, such as the link of justification to baptism and the Eucharist, or the questions regarding ministry, the ministry of bishops in the apostolic succession and the Petrine ministry. “We must also be able to translate these questions of the past – Kasper concluded – into the language and idiom of our time, so that our language may impact on our deepest experiences and help us rediscover anew the meaning of justification. Let us ask ourselves: what does it mean to believe we have been saved and redeemed, and what implications does this conviction have in our personal and community life?” As Walter Kasper and Ishmael Noko had hoped at the beginning of this year, the anniversary of the Declaration of Augsburg was for many an occasion to promote ecumenical celebrations and study days at the local and diocesan level. Turkey: inter-religious dialogue on television An Islamic mufti, an Orthodox and Catholic priest, a rabbi and an Armenian monk met together to speak of religious freedom and tolerance: it happened at Antioch, in Turkey, on Friday 29 October, in front of the city’s main mosque. The religious representatives had been brought together by the STV satellite channel, which on the occasion of Ramadan 2004 broadcast a series of meeting between religious leaders, held each evening before the “Iftar yemegi” (the meal that breaks the daytime fast during Ramadan). Father Domenico Bertogli, parish priest of Antioch, participated on behalf of the Catholic Church. “This city – he explained to Sir – is increasingly becoming a symbol of inter-religious dialogue. Dialogue, even in the diversity of culture and faith, must be based on the fact that we are all human beings and that all of us – as believers – believe we were created by God. Dialogue, if it is to grow, must continue in mutual understanding. Unfortunately we must still note many prejudices due to ignorance of each other. But we also realise that speaking of our own faith is enriching”.