The tenth anniversary of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

In honor of the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation:

Ten Years of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

Roman Catholics, Lutherans and Methodists to Commemorate the Event on October 30 and 31 in Augsburg

AUGSBURG, Germany/GENEVA, 15 October 2009 (LWI) - Several commemorative events will be held in Augsburg, Germany on 30 and 31 October to celebrate the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) between the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Roman Catholic Church ten years ago.

During a special worship service on Reformation Day in 1999, the LWF and the Vatican affirmed that mutual condemnations on the decisive question of justification that had been repeated for centuries no longer applied to the teaching of the respective churches. At the 2006 World Methodist Conference in Seoul, South Korea, the member churches of the World Methodist Council formally affirmed the JDDJ.

The highlight of the upcoming commemorative celebrations will be a ceremony on 30 October at 19:30 hrs in the Golden Hall of the Augsburg "Rathaus." Greetings by the Lord Mayor of Augsburg Dr Kurt Gribl; by Bishop Dr Johannes Friedrich of Munich, presiding bishop of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany; and by Bishop Dr Walter Mixa of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Augsburg, will be followed by brief introductions to the topic by the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) Walter Cardinal Kasper, and by LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko. Prof. em. Eberhard Jüngel from Tübingen will deliver the keynote address titled "What Does Our Happiness Have to Do with Our Blessedness?"

On 31 October from 09:00 hrs, presentations related to the JDDJ will continue in the Golden Hall. Speakers will include the long-serving bishop of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Germany Dr Walter Klaiber of Tübingen, and the former president of the German Bishops' Conference Karl Cardinal Lehmann of Mainz. The PCPCU president and the LWF general secretary will give the closing remarks. The festivities will conclude with an ecumenical worship service in the Augsburg Cathedral and a reception in the Michael Sailer Hall.

Kasper, Noko and Klaiber will address a press conference hosted jointly by the LWF, PCPCU and the Evangelical Methodist Church in Germany on 30 October at 15:00 hrs at the "Hollbau" Annahof in Augsburg.

This is a joint press release by the media offices of the Lutheran World Federation, Evangelical Methodist Church in Germany, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria and the Diocese of Augsburg.