Catholic News 2

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’ visit to Sweden for the joint commemoration of the Reformation comes as the culmination of 50 years of dialogue between Lutherans and Catholics, who’ll be recommitting themselves to shared witness and service.

That’s the view of the Lutheran World Federation’s Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations, Rev Dr Kaisamari Hintikka, who was closely involved in preparations for the events in the southern Swedish cities of Lund and Malmo.

The Pope and Lutheran leaders presided together on Monday at a prayer service in Lund cathedral before travelling together to a sports stadium in Malmo for a celebration of common commitment organised by the Catholic confederation Caritas Internationalis and by the Lutheran World Service.

Ahead of these historic events, Susy Hodges spoke to Rev Hintikka to find out more about the ecumenical significance of the Pope’s presence in Sweden…

Listen: 

Rev Hintikka says it’s an event which has been building “over 50 years of faithful and careful dialogue and theological reflection by Lutherans and Catholics”. The significance “is not just about what we do in Lund”, she says, but about the “remarkable progress we’ve been able to make”.

She notes two key ecumenical documents of the past decades, the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, and the 2013 booklet ‘From Conflict to Communion’ in which, for the first time, Lutherans and Catholics “tell the story of the Reformation together”.  We want to build on that, she says, “through a stronger joint commitment to witness to the world and service to our neighbour”.

Speaking about the location of these events in Sweden, Rev Hintikka explains that while the Reformation has its roots deep in German and north European soil, it is a global Church today and  Sweden is important as the place where the LWF was founded in 1947. Lund cathedral, she continues, has both a Catholic and a Lutheran history dating back a thousand years and the joint prayer service there is an attempt to bring those histories together.

Asked about those who question why Catholics should celebrate this anniversary, Rev Hintikka  says it’s important to keep in mind that while we celebrate the gifts of the Reformation, it has also been the trigger for much hatred, violence and human suffering in Europe and beyond.  We need to be able to learn from that history, she says, and to concentrate on “healing of the churches, of our relationships and of the world”.  

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is in Sweden for a joint commemoration of the Reformation, together with leaders of the Lutheran World Federation. On Tuesday he will also celebrate a Mass for All Saints Day with the small Catholic community in Sweden and other Nordic nations.

On this visit, Francis follows in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II who, in 1989, became the first pontiff to visit the region since the Reformation.

Among those helping to coordinate that visit of the Polish pope was Bishop William Kenney who was then serving as vicar general of the Stockholm diocese. Today he is auxiliary of Birmingham in the UK and co-chair of the international Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue.

Philippa Hitchen spoke to him to find out more about the Catholic community in Sweden and what he is expecting from this second papal visit to the country…..

Listen: 

Bishop Kenney say the Church there is unusual in that the majority of its members are not Swedish, but rather are immigrants from various generations who’ve come to Sweden as workers or as refugees. During his time there, he says, about 70% of Catholics were born in another country, with many more coming from the Middle East today, not least from Iraq.

Bishop Kenney says he hopes the visit will give “a renewed emphasis to ecumenism” since the Catholic Church there has been largely “overwhelmed” by “immediate pastoral concerns” of providing Mass, sacraments and catechesis.

Asked about tensions between Lutherans and Catholic, he says that some of the difficulties today may come not from the Reformation period, but from much more modern matters such as the ordination of women or human sexuality.

As co-chair of international Catholic-Lutheran dialogue group, Bishop Kenney says progress is being made on issues around Baptism, with a document expected in the next two years. The 1999 Joint Document on the Doctrine of Justification, he said, was like ‘the bomb of the Holy Spirit” which helped us realize that the issues which we thought divided us, don’t any longer and we’re now trying to work out what is the effect of this is. The problem in all countries and in all churches, he adds, is people have become “satisfied with themselves” with “no sense of a crisis of unity”.

Speaking of John Paul II’s visit to Sweden, Bishop Kenney says there were fewer difficulties than in Denmark as the situation differs from country to country in the region. He notes that people there are very receptive to social teaching of the Church, while many are looking for meaning in their lives so “the Churches have an opportunity there”.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis will be welcomed to the Lutheran Cathedral of Lund by the Bishop of Stockholm, Anders Arborelius, and by the Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala, Antje Jackelén.

Ahead of the ecumenical commemoration of the Protestant Reformation set to take place in the Cathedral, Vatican Radio’s Philippa Hitchen spoke with Archbishop Jackelén about the Pope’s visit.

Jackelén said her message for the Pope was one of welcome, saying she and the Pope “are both excited” about the visit.

Asked about her hopes for Pope Francis visit, Jackelén said, “I hope it’s a moment of encouragement and empowerment for the ecumenical movement that will have effect in many parts of the world.”

Listen to the full interview of the Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala, Sweden, Antje Jackelén, with Philippa Hitchen: 

 

 

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met with Sweden’s royal family on Monday, at the beginning of his visit to Malmo and Lund to participate in the start of a series of events that will culminate in a year’s time in the commemoration of the 500^th anniversary of the beginning of the Lutheran reform.

King Karl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia of Sweden received the Holy Father at the king’s house in Lund, ahead of an ecumenical service in Lund’s Lutheran Cathedral.

The king and queen also attended the ecumenical service, which saw Pope Francis, Lutheran Bishop of Jordan and the Holy Land and President of the Lutheran World Federation, Munib Younan, and the Rev. Martin Junge, the General Secretary of the LWF jointly leading.

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(Vatican Radio) “From Conflict to Communion – Together in Hope” is the title of the event in the Malmö Arena that sees the participation of Pope Francis, leaders from Church of Sweden and the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm, and leaders of the World Lutheran Federation.

The celebratory event also features testimonies and performances by a number of artists, choirs and guests.

Organizers of the event have pointed out that all ecumenical events taking place in Sweden on Monday highlight topics that still require further theological discussion and agreement to be able to achieve full Christian unity.

One of these is the commitment to common witness and service which will be particularly emphasized at the Arena in Malmö. 

During this public event an agreement of cooperation will be signed between the WLF World Service, which currently serves more than 6 2.3 million refugees globally, and Caritas Internationalis, which is present in 164 countries around the world and has an impressive record of diaconal service to people in need. 

Those present will underline that their pledge to leave conflict behind will not only remain among these two communions, but bear fruit in compassionate and loving service to the neighbor in a world wounded and fragmented by conflict, violence and ecological destruction. 

One person who will be giving testimony of her own experience and commitment in today’s broken world is Rose Lokonyen, a South Sudanese refugee-cum-athlete who was chosen to be the flag-bearer of the first ever refugee team to take part in the Olympic Games last summer.

Philippa Hitchen asked Rose to talk about her personal experience as a refugee and about the significance of being able to represent refugees across the world in public occasions.

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Residents of New Delhi woke up to a blanket of smog on Monday as air quality deteriorated sharply overnight in India's capital, triggering warnings that even healthy people were at risk of respiratory problems.  New Delhi ranks among the world's most polluted cities, with air quality usually worsening at this time of year, when smoke from firecrackers celebrating the Hindu Diwali festival of lights and crops burnt in nearby states envelops the city of 16 million.  Experts warned people to avoid outdoor exertion.  

"Last night, levels hit the severe category, which is the worst. You could see and sense how the visibility had come down and there was a choking haze all around," said Anumita Roychowdhury at the Centre for Science and Environment.   Levels of PM 2.5, tiny particulate matter that reaches deep into the lungs, more than doubled within a few hours to 750 micrograms per cubic meter in the city's worst affected parts,  India's Central Pollution Control Board said. That is 30 times a mean guideline of 25 micrograms per cubic meter on average over a 24-hour period set by the World Health Organization (WHO), which says outdoor air pollution killed 3.7 million people worldwide in 2012.

Roychowdhury said data was not available to assess if Delhi's air was worse on average than in prior years. Air quality is usually poorest in Delhi's winter months of December and January.  Authorities have responded with measures such as a ban on old trucks from entering the city and briefly trialling a scheme that limited private vehicle usage to alternate days, but experts say they have done little to reduce pollution.

India is home to four of the world's 10 cities with the worst air pollution, the WHO said in May. New Delhi ranked 11th.  Almost one in seven children live in areas with high levels of outdoor air pollution, mostly in South Asia, U.N. children's agency UNICEF said.  (Source: Reuters)

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(Vatican Radio) Participating in the “From Conflict to Communion – Together in Hope” event in the Malmö Arena is Monsignor Hector Fabio Henao, director of Caritas Colombia and a member of the Caritas Internationalis’ Colombia Working Group which is committed to ensuring the Colombian peace process stays on track. 

During the ecumenical event those present will pledge to leave conflict behind and to work to put n compassionate and loving service in action.

Monsignor Henao told Philippa Hitchen how Catholics and Lutherans have been working together to bring peace to Colombia.

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Msg Henao explains that Caritas and the WLF have been working together for many years supporting victims and setting out a common strategy.

He also speaks of the current status of the negotiations between the government and some of the rebels.

“There will soon be another agreement with FARC, it is building in a very fast way, but meanwhile it is important to have national consensus” he says. 
      

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Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday blocked the execution of a paranoid schizophrenic murder convict pending a review of an earlier ruling that his condition was not a permanent mental disorder and therefore not legally relevant, his lawyers said.  Rights groups have denounced the possible execution of  Imdad Ali, 50, who government doctors certified as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia in 2012, following his conviction for the 2001 murder of a cleric.  He was due to be executed on Wednesday, according to execution orders issued last week.  But the Supreme Court agreed to review an Oct. 21 ruling on Ali's final appeal, when the court ruled that schizophrenia did not fall within Pakistan's legal definition of mental disorders.

"We welcome the decision ... which will be integral in showing Pakistan's commitment to its international human rights obligations," said Zainab Malik, head of advocacy at Justice Project Pakistan, a legal aid group representing Ali.  The court scheduled a hearing for the second week of November.   Pakistan ended a virtual moratorium on capital punishment in 2014 after Pakistani Taliban gunmen massacred more than 150 people, most of them children, at a school.   Since then, 425 people have been hanged.   Rights groups, lawyers and medical professionals condemned the October ruling clearing the way for Ali's execution as running contrary to established medical knowledge and setting a dangerous precedent in cases involving the mentally ill.   (Source: Reuters)

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(Vatican Radio) An event scheduled to take place on Monday in the Malmö Arena of Sweden, titled “From Conflict to Communion – Together in Hope” sees the participation of Pope Francis, leaders from Church of Sweden and the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm, and leaders of the World Lutheran Federation on Monday.

This public event is also scheduled to include the signing of an agreement of cooperation between the WLF’s charitable arm, the Lutheran World Service, and Caritas Internationalis. 

One person who will be giving testimony at the event is an ecological activist from India, Pranita Biswasi, who spoke with Philippa Hitchen in Sweden ahead of the event.

Click below to hear their conversation

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis and Bishop Mounib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation signed a Joint Statement on Monday in which Catholics and Lutherans pledged to pursue their dialogue in order to remove the remaining obstacles that hinder them from reaching full unity. They also stressed their commitment to common witness on behalf of the poor, the needy and the victims of injustice. The Declaration was signed during the ecumenical prayer service held in Lund’s Lutheran Cathedral on the first day of the Pope’s visit to Sweden.

Please find below the full text of the Statement:

JOINT STATEMENT

on the occasion of the Joint Catholic-Lutheran Commemoration of the Reformation

Lund, 31 October 2016

 

«Abide in me as I abide in you.  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me» (John 15:4).

With thankful hearts

With this Joint Statement, we express joyful gratitude to God for this moment of common prayer in the Cathedral of Lund, as we begin the year commemorating the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation.  Fifty years of sustained and fruitful ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans have helped us to overcome many differences, and have deepened our mutual understanding and trust.  At the same time, we have drawn closer to one another through joint service to our neighbours – often in circumstances of suffering and persecution.  Through dialogue and shared witness we are no longer strangers.  Rather, we have learned that what unites us is greater than what divides us.

Moving from conflict to communion

While we are profoundly thankful for the spiritual and theological gifts received through the Reformation, we also confess and lament before Christ that Lutherans and Catholics have wounded the visible unity of the Church.  Theological differences were accompanied by prejudice and conflicts, and religion was instrumentalized for political ends.  Our common faith in Jesus Christ and our baptism demand of us a daily conversion, by which we cast off the historical disagreements and conflicts that impede the ministry of reconciliation.  While the past cannot be changed, what is remembered and how it is remembered can be transformed.  We pray for the healing of our wounds and of the memories that cloud our view of one another.  We emphatically reject all hatred and violence, past and present, especially that expressed in the name of religion.  Today, we hear God’s command to set aside all conflict.  We recognize that we are freed by grace to move towards the communion to which God continually calls us.

 Our commitment to common witness

As we move beyond those episodes in history that burden us, we pledge to witness together to God’s merciful grace, made visible in the crucified and risen Christ.  Aware that the way we relate to one another shapes our witness to the Gospel, we commit ourselves to further growth in communion rooted in Baptism, as we seek to remove the remaining obstacles that hinder us from attaining full unity.  Christ desires that we be one, so that the world may believe (cf. John 17:21).

Many members of our communities yearn to receive the Eucharist at one table, as the concrete expression of full unity.  We experience the pain of those who share their whole lives, but cannot share God’s redeeming presence at the Eucharistic table.  We acknowledge our joint pastoral responsibility to respond to the spiritual thirst and hunger of our people to be one in Christ.  We long for this wound in the Body of Christ to be healed.  This is the goal of our ecumenical endeavours, which we wish to advance, also by renewing our commitment to theological dialogue.

We pray to God that Catholics and Lutherans will be able to witness together to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, inviting humanity to hear and receive the good news of God’s redeeming action.  We pray to God for inspiration, encouragement and strength so that we may stand together in service, upholding human dignity and rights, especially for the poor, working for justice, and rejecting all forms of violence.  God summons us to be close to all those who yearn for dignity, justice, peace and reconciliation.  Today in particular, we raise our voices for an end to the violence and extremism which affect so many countries and communities, and countless sisters and brothers in Christ.  We urge Lutherans and Catholics to work together to welcome the stranger, to come to the aid of those forced to flee because of war and persecution, and to defend the rights of refugees and those who seek asylum.

More than ever before, we realize that our joint service in this world must extend to God’s creation, which suffers exploitation and the effects of insatiable greed.  We recognize the right of future generations to enjoy God’s world in all its potential and beauty.  We pray for a change of hearts and minds that leads to a loving and responsible way to care for creation.

One in Christ

On this auspicious occasion, we express our gratitude to our brothers and sisters representing the various Christian World Communions and Fellowships who are present and join us in prayer.  As we recommit ourselves to move from conflict to communion, we do so as part of the one Body of Christ, into which we are incorporated through Baptism.  We invite our ecumenical partners to remind us of our commitments and to encourage us.  We ask them to continue to pray for us, to walk with us, to support us in living out the prayerful commitments we express today.

Calling upon Catholics and Lutherans worldwide

We call upon all 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.  Rather than conflicts of the past, God’s gift of unity among us shall guide cooperation and deepen our solidarity.  By drawing close in faith to Christ, by praying together, by listening to one another, by living Christ’s love in our relationships, we, Catholics and Lutherans, open ourselves to the power of the Triune God.  Rooted in Christ and witnessing to him, we renew our determination to be faithful heralds of God’s boundless love for all humanity.

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