CHURCH OF ENGLAND COUNCIL FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY CHURCH HOUSE LONDON EUROPEAN BULLETIN – No 96 November 2016 CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Historic commemoration of the Reformation in Lund Cathedral 3. Reformation Day: Bishop Nick Baines at Erfurt Monastery 4. New Taizé Publications 5. Ecumenical Patriarch: Survival of God’s creation is at stake 6. Paris one year on: Inter faith statement on climate change 7. Visby Conference for Anglican – Lutheran Society 8. Sheilagh Kesting and Elspeth Davey: tributes to two leading ecumenists 9. A Vision of Europe: Archbishop Justin speech in Paris 1. INTRODUCTION Dear Bulletin Readers Reformation Anniversary and other themes in this bulletin At the end of October the Reformation Anniversary commemorations officially started with a remarkable gathering in Lund involving Pope Francis and LWF President Dr Munib Youman. At the same time Bp Nick Baines was in Erfurt where Martin Luther served as an Augustinian monk. We also hear about new Taizé publications, a warning from the Ecumenical Patriarch about the survival of God’s creation, an inter –faith statement on climate change, the Anglican – Lutheran Society conference in Visby during the summer and finally a vision of Europe in the Twenty First Century outlined by Archbishop in a speech in Paris. CCU joins in tributes paid to leading ecumenists from Scotland: Sheilagh Kesting and Elspeth Davey. Many readers will also have enjoyed meeting and working with them in a variety of settings over the years. We hope you enjoy the items in this bulletin. Welcome to Revd Dr Will Adam Exciting times as the Council of Christian Unity looks forward to welcoming a new colleague. Revd Dr Will Adam will begin work in the New Year as Ecumenical 1 Advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury and Ecumenical Officer in the CCU. He was a C of E delegate to the World Council of Churches’ Assembly in Harare, a Diocesan Ecumenical Officer with responsibility for a Meissen link in Germany and chair of his local Churches Together group. He is a member of the International Colloquium of Anglican and Roman Catholic Canon Lawyers. With all good wishes, Francis Bassett Assistant Secretary Council for Christian Unity The Bulletin is sent out on a mailing list: Please advise us if your email address changes, or if you do not wish to receive the Bulletin. CCU is not responsible for the content of external web sites mentioned in this Bulletin. Individual views expressed in blogs, reports or communiques are not necessarily the views of the editors. 2. HISTORIC JOINT COMMEMORATION OF THE REFORMATION IN LUND CATHEDRAL (LWI) – Pope Francis and the General Secretary of The Lutheran World Federation Rev. Dr Martin Junge jointly preached on the gospel of the true vine (John 15:1-5) during the Common Prayer of the Joint Catholic-Lutheran Commemoration of the Reformation in Lund, Sweden on Monday 31 October. They spoke about the unity in Christ that Lutherans and Catholics have together and the opportunities for joint witness in a world that needs the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ in words and actions. “Now in the context of the commemoration of the Reformation of 1517, we have a new opportunity to accept a common path, one that has taken shape over the past fifty years in the ecumenical dialogue between the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church,” Pope Francis stated in his sermon, adding: “We have the opportunity to mend a critical moment of our history by moving beyond the controversies and disagreements that have often prevented us from understanding one another.” "As we see Jesus among us, we have also started to see each other anew. We acknowledge that there is much more that unites us than that which separates us. We are branches of the same vine. We are one in Baptism. This is why we are here at this joint commemoration: to rediscover who we are in Christ," said General Secretary Junge in his sermon, calling upon Catholics and Lutherans “to move away from a past overshadowed by conflict and division and to walk the paths of communion.” This historic event—the first Joint Catholic-Lutheran Commemoration of the Reformation at the global level—was witnessed by 450 ecumenical guests in Lund Cathedral, Sweden, as well as the 10,000 visitors in Malmö Arena and television viewers worldwide. Pope Francis co-hosted the event with LWF President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan and General Secretary Junge. The Common Prayer in Lund Cathedral focused on thanksgiving, repentance and a commitment to joint witness. 2 During the church service a Joint Statement was signed which embraces communion as the common future of Lutherans and Catholics. A colorful cross created for the event by Salvadoran artist Christian Chavarria Ayala visualized the Triune God’s creative, reconciling and sanctifying work. Opening the service Archbishop Antje Jackelén of the Church of Sweden, welcomed the international guests: “We celebrate the great promises of Christian faith.” Bishop Anders Arborelius representing the other local church, added: “We hope, we pray, and we long for that perfect visible unity that can persuade the world that the Risen Lord is alive and at work among us.” During thanksgiving Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, stated: “Catholics and Lutherans embrace each other as sisters and brothers in the Lord. Together they rejoice in the truly Christian gifts that they both have received and rediscovered in various ways through the renewal and impulses of the Reformation.” Bishop Younan thanked God “for the proclamation of the gospel that occurred during the Reformation and that since then has strengthened countless people to live lives of faith in Jesus Christ.” A powerful moment was the sharing of the sign of peace during the prayer. Pope Francis called for peace with the words “let the peace of Christ to rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you are called to peace.” This was followed by LWF President Younan’s invitation to those assisting in the service, participants in the Lund cathedral and those present in Malmö Arena to offer each other a “sign of reconciliation and peace.” The affirmation of five imperatives formulated in the report From Conflict to Communion was symbolized by the lighting of a candle once each one had been read. The five Imperatives commit Lutherans and Catholics to strengthen what is held in common, to transformation by the encounter with the other and by the mutual witness of faith, to seeking visible unity through concrete steps, to rediscovering the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ for our time and to joint witness in proclamation and service to the world. As a sign that Catholics and Lutherans were committed to taking a further step towards the unity into which God calls the church, Pope Francis and LWF President Younan signed a Joint Statement. It calls on Lutheran and Catholic parishes and communities to be “bold and creative, joyful and hopeful in their commitment to continue the great journey ahead of us.” The prayer service in Lund Cathedral continued in Malmö Arena, affirming the common witness and service of Catholics and Lutherans to people in need. The LWF World Service and Caritas Internationalis signed a Declaration of Intent highlighting their global engagement as an expression of their common faith in God. Information based on post at: https://www.lutheranworld.org/news/press-release-rediscovering-who-we-are- christ 3 3. REFORMATION DAY: BISHOP NICK BAINES AT ERFURT MONASTERY At the same time as Lund Gathering the Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Revd Nick Baines, was in Erfurt Monastery, where Martin Luther served as an Augustinian monk before nailing his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg. Bishop Nick’s sermon which quoted from Deuteronomy Chapter Twenty Six, referred to God delivering the Israelites out of slavery and their subsequent forgetting of that rescue. Drawing a parallel with today’s world he said: “if we forget our own history, we cannot know who we are. We lose our identity. And we cannot shape our common future unless we acknowledge our common past” “If the Church is to fulfil its mission, it must learn from the bad memories and build on the good. Today we need to meet people where they really are, not where we want them to be, and speak in a language that they can understand. “ Bishop Nick paid tribute to Martin Luther’s work in opening the Bible for future generations to learn about the love and grace of God as described in the Old and New Testaments. The German text of Bishop Nick’s sermon can be found on his blog at: https://nickbaines.wordpress.com/2016 Gavin Drake’s vivid article from Lund (accompanied by photos) on page 11 of Sthe 4 November edition of the “Church Times” was a major source of information for this item and helped with information for the previous item about events in Sweden. 4. NEW TAIZÉ PUBLICATIONS The Taizé Press has announced two publications from the colloquia held in the summer of 2015. 2015 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of the founder of the Taizé Community, Brother Roger, and the tenth anniversary of his death. For the two colloquia contributors were brought from across the world to reflect on Brother Roger’s influence on theology and on religious life. Papers delivered have now been published in English and French editions, and represent an essential reference for all research on questions of ecumenism, community life, ecclesiology and the history of the Taizé Community. They are an important addition to the collections of all seminary and university libraries.