Dialogue
“Pope Francis is my brother in Christ”, said Munib A Younan, Lutheran bishop for Jordan and the Holy Land, President of the Lutheran World Federation. Bishop Younan and Pope Francis were the co-protagonists of the “historical” joint commemoration in the city of Lund marking the 500th anniversary of Luther’s Reformation. “The present historical time of reconciliation now needs to be incarnated”, he said. The chosen path is the joint commitment – of Catholics and Lutherans – for peace, justice, for “an inclusive world that embraces every human being”
“What unites us is much more than what divides us. The time of division belongs to the past. Now is the time of reconciliation, and especially of the joint testimony in a world that calls upon the Churches to be signs of unity and peace.” Munib A. Younan, Lutheran Bishop for Jordan and the Holy Land, is the president of the Lutheran World Foundation. The Bishop and Pope Francis were co-protagonists of the “historical” commemoration in Lund marking the 500th anniversary of Luther’s Reformation. He was awarded the 34th Niwano Peace Prize. The motivation is the following: “In a world characterized by leaders who seek to emphasise difference and hatred, Bishop Younan has consistently strived for the opposite.” The Bishop carries out an important mission also in the Holy Land. As a dedicate advocate of interreligious dialogue, he believes that the communion of religious Confessions is part and parcel of the fight for peace. SIR interviewed him in Florence, where the Bishop attended a conference on “Rereading the Reformation.”
The event in Lund was followed by several meetings on Luther’s Reformation, some took place in Italy. In your opinion, can we already speak of “reconciled memories”? The event in Lund was a historical moment of reconciliation between the Catholic and the Lutheran Churches, a very important step in the ecumenical movement. The train of reconciliation has left and it is travelling.
This historical time of reconciliation now needs to be incarnated.
I am particularly grateful and happy of what, for example, has been happening in Italy. I am here in Florence to attend a meeting on the Reformation where an honest, profound, theological debate took place on the points of convergence and on divergences. We organized the same liturgy held in Lund in Jerusalem, in St. Catherine’s Church in Bethlehem, together with bishop Pizzaballa. Those meetings testify to the fact that the time of divisions is over. Now is the time of reconciliation. And more than ever it’s time to witness in the Lutheran and Catholic Churches the story of faithfulness to the Gospel, to see Christ in the other person’s Church. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide us.
In Malmö, also in Sweden, a joint agreement was signed by Caritas Internationalis and by the World Service of the Lutheran Federation. It’s time to be united, to do what? The elements that unite us are much more than those that divide us. Although on some issues we disagree, those issues are not cause of division. But we are united on a fundamental aspect, namely the joint testimony to the world; a joint testimony of Christ in the world. In Malmö we signed an agreement between Caritas Internationalis and the Lutheran Federation’s World Service, in which we clearly affirmed that we are united in a prophetical diaconia in the world.
Imagine how powerful our actions will be when Catholics and Lutherans will work together for development, for the uprooting of poverty, and for healthcare.
What is your request for “your” Holy Land? The Churches in the Middle East are strongly united in asking our faithful not to leave, not to emigrate, to stay in the lands where our roots are found, because
As Christians, we are builders of bridges, champions of justice, instruments of peace, promoters of human rights and defenders of religious freedom.
Precisely because Christians have this role in the societies in which they live, the Churches, the national governments, the international community, must help Christians to stay in their home countries. They shouldn’t be left alone.
Who is Pope Francis to you? First of all Pope Francis is my brother in Christ. The first time we met Pope Francis we had just been in a refugee camp in Kenya, where the Lutheran Federation is actively committed on behalf of the United Nations. On that occasion he said something important for the Lutheran Church: “Now is the time of an ecumenical martyria”, it’s time for a joint testimony.
Pope Francis brought the pulpit on the streets, and he made the Churches understand that ours had to be a service to the people.
He made us understand that what people need today is a Church that draws us together. Pope Francis is a pastor for the world, a pastor for the believers, a pastor especially for those in situations for need. I pray to God that He may continue giving him health, wisdom, in the important pastoral work that the Pope is carrying out inside the Church and for the whole world.
Do you have a dream? I have many dreams. The first is that Lutherans and Catholics may continue working along the path of reconciliation, that the Church may be a living sign of unity and justice for the world and that she may continue being the conscience of governments and politicians, especially with regard to current events.
My dream is that Palestinians and Israelis may live each in their own State in peace, justice, and reconciliation.
My dream is that poverty may be uprooted from the world and that every human being may lead a dignified life, in the full respect of fundamental rights. My dream is that world governments may not be selfish and instead focus on the good of humanity, especially the suffering humanity, so that ours may become an ever inclusive world where there is room for every human being created by God.
