VATICAN CITY — Lutheran leaders have warned the Vatican that the creation of a structure to welcome conservative Lutherans into the Catholic Church would harm dialogue and damage ecumenical relations.
In 2009, Pope Benedict created a special church structure, called an ordinariate, to allow disgruntled Anglicans to convert to Catholicism while maintaining bits of their traditions and culture.
In recent weeks, senior Vatican officials publicly suggested the creation of a similar structure for disaffected Lutherans; the idea was first floated last October by Cardinal Kurt Koch, the Vatican chief ecumenist.
According to Catholic media reports, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, who heads the Vatican’s doctrinal office, said Jan. 11 that if Lutherans asked for the creation of an ordinariate, the Vatican would consider their request.
Mueller’s words were swiftly rebuked by Martin Junge, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation. “The creation of such a special structure would have deep ecumenical repercussions,” he warned Jan. 18.
According to Junge, a Vatican move would “send wrong signals” to Lutheran churches around the world as they prepare to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017 “in a spirit of ecumenical understanding and cooperation.”
The Catholic Church in Germany has been invited to take part in the Reformation commemorations, but Catholic leaders have cautioned against triumphalist celebrations of what the Vatican still considers a painful split among Christians.
Share with others: