Catholic Church continues toward full unity with the Lutheran Church, John
Paul II said Saturday upon receiving a delegation of the Norwegian Lutheran
diocese of Nidaros.
The delegation arrived on the feast of St. Olaf, patron of Norway, the martyred
king who brought Christianity to Norway in 1015, only to be overthrown and
killed in 1028 by a pagan rival.
"We are committed to moving further ahead on the path to
reconciliation," the Holy Father explained. "The Joint Declaration on
the Doctrine of Justification between the Lutheran World Federation and the
Catholic Church, signed in 1999, paves the way for more extensive common witness,"
adding that it "brings us a step closer to the full visible unity which is
the goal of our dialogue."
The Declaration was signed at Augsburg, Germany on October 31, 1999 (See ZENIT,
October 31, 1999:(http://www.zenit.org/english/archive/9910/ZE991031.html#item2).-
).
During the meeting, John Paul II recalled his apostolic visit "to Norway
and the other Scandinavian countries in 1989, and the ecumenical service in the
Cathedral of Nidaros in Trondheim with the Right Reverend Kristen Kyrre
Bremer."
"It was a sign of new and deeper ecumenical relations between us, improved
relations which, in 1993, enabled the Lutheran Church to allow the Catholic
community to celebrate in the old medieval Cathedral the 150th anniversary of
the re-establishment of the Catholic Church in Norway," the Holy Father
said.
"May the Lord help us to treasure what has been achieved so far, and may
he sustain us in our efforts to hasten its development into ever broader
cooperation," the Pope concluded.