‘Together we confess: By grace alone’

Leaders from Catholic, Lutheran and Methodist churches gathered in Chicago Oct. 1 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the signing of a joint agreement on the Doctrine of Justification. The Joint Declaration, signed Oct. 31, 1999, by the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation, was affirmed by the World Methodist Council in 2006 and notes “… By grace alone … we are accepted by God” and are equipped for good works.

The topic of justification by faith became the first point of controversy between Martin Luther and the Catholic Church in the 16th century. For more than four centuries prior to the onset of ecumenical dialogues between the churches, Lutherans accused Catholics of believing in salvation by works, whereas Catholics contended that Lutherans and other Protestants had divorced faith from the other two supernatural virtues of hope and love.

The Joint Declaration identifies a consensus. (USCCB)