SEOUL, South Korea — Methodist churches took a key step toward mending relations with the Vatican, adding their approval to an interfaith accord that aims to repair divisions dating back to the 16th-century Protestant Reformation.
On July 23, the World Methodist Council, a body representing more than 65 million faithful, met in Seoul, South Korea, and signed the Joint Declaration on Justification. That document, signed by the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation in 1999, aimed to settle disagreements over “justification” — the issue of whether salvation is God-given or earned through good works.
That question was at the center of a 16th-century debate that eventually sparked the Protestant Reformation. The joint declaration attempted to heal the rift by stating that salvation was a gift from God that reflected good works. A statement from World Methodist Council July 23 said the group welcomed the agreement with “great joy.”
“It is our deep hope that in the near future, we shall also be able to enter into closer relationships with Lutherans and the Roman Catholic Church,” the statement said.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican’s head of ecumenical relations, said the July 23 agreement was “one of the most significant dates in the history of our churches.”
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