"That should lead us then to the essential questions which are still at the heart of our relationship," said Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary for the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
Bishop Farrell is also a member of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity, which just recently concluded its fourth round of dialogues. During a regular staff meeting at the Vatican in early November, the Commission explored new topics to address for their fifth round of talks.
According to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s News Service, the fifth round will likely focus on the upcoming 500-year anniversary of the Reformation. The Protestant Reformation is traditionally believed to have begun Oct 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
The fifth round will likely culminate that year – as most dialogues last for about a decade – and delegates said they hope to use that opportunity to find new common grounds to cooperate.
"Our idea is that the commission would take up at the beginning of its mandate a deep, profound study of what the Reformation meant and what it has meant down the centuries and what it actually means today for both of us," Farrell said.
The regular staff meeting followed a high-level meeting between seven Lutheran church leaders and Pope Benedict XVI. The Nov. 7 gathering marked the first time the new pope met the Lutheran representatives in a formal setting.
During their discussions, the pope raised several key differences between the two churches. The former Cardinal Ratzinger, a champion for ecumenism, said he believed differences between Lutherans and Catholics are less about orders of ministries than about the Word of God. He encouraged the Commission to address those points as they begin their new round of talks.
The Rev. Joachim Track, German theologian and chair of the LWF program committee for ecumenical affairs, asked the pope to clarify those scriptural differences, but the pontiff merely answered that “that is precisely the task of the dialogue.”
"He seemed very interested to hear of the results of such an investigation,” said Track.
Meanwhile, Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran Federation who met the pope that day, said he believed the church members should not just look at those differences but see how each faith “reformed” through the centuries as they celebrate the 500 year anniversary of the Reformation.
At that end, the staff agreed that there will be a special working group of Lutherans to coordinate events for 2017 and to plan one or two international events.
“[This is so] that we are not commemorating that we became Lutherans, but we are commemorating that through the reformers the Church was constantly renewed,” said Noko.
"Lutherans look at Catholics from the point of view of the 16th century, and we define ourselves vis-à-vis the Catholic of the 16th century, which is not correct," Noko said. "The Roman Catholic Church has moved since that time as much as we have moved toward a new expression of self-understanding of the Lutheran church.”
Next year, the Commission will develop a paper on “The Apostolicity of the Church” – the conclusive paper on the fourth round of Lutheran-Catholic talks.
Pauline J. Chang
Christian Today Correspondent