Cardinal received medal struck in honour of notorious anti-semite
From 2016, "Protestant and Catholic Christians long for community".
Protestants celebrate start of Reformation anniversary in Berlin
Martin Luther's theses changed church, politics, society and culture. 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of his legendary posting of the theses. An entire year of celebrations in Germany is to commemorate the Reformation. It was opened in Berlin on Monday.
The year of celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation has begun under the sign of ecumenism. At a state ceremony in Berlin, Federal President Joachim Gauck paid tribute to the changes initiated by Martin Luther (1483-1546). The state was also shaped by the Reformation in many ways, Gauck said in his speech at the Konzerthaus on Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt: "The present shape of our polity is inconceivable without the Christian churches." The head of state recalled Luther's doctrine of God's grace. Especially today, he said, society "needs nothing so much as grace". Gauck complained that "a spirit of mercilessness is spreading, of putting people down, of self-righteousness and contempt". He called for "agents of de-scaring".
In a festive service in the Marienkirche in Berlin, the Chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, described the anniversary of the Reformation as a signal of reconciliation and new beginnings. At the same time, he emphasised the ecumenical dimension of the anniversary year. The Bishop of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, Markus Dröge, called on us to discover anew in the Reformation a power "that moves and changes".
In his sermon, Bishop Dröge said that the reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) had not delivered the master plan for saving the world with his theses. "He was not concerned with bringing about a triumph of better knowledge". He said the Reformation celebrated the realisation that it was up to each individual. Dröge warned against right-wing populism and opposed "forces that speak of the downfall of the West", of social decline and the fall of Europe. He was sure that "the heartbeat of confidence is stronger".
For the first time, a Catholic was honoured with the Martin Luther Medal of the EKD at the festive service on Reformation Day. Bedford-Strohm presented the award to Cardinal Karl Lehmann for his services to ecumenism. "Today, Protestant and Catholic Christians long for communion," Bedford-Strohm said. One is grateful "for many steps towards each other". Among the visitors to the service, which was broadcast live on ARD and in the festival hall of the Rotes Rathaus, were prominent guests from the church, politics and society, including Federal President Joachim Gauck, Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters (CDU) and Berlin's Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD), as well as the Chairman of the Catholic German Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx.
Church services also commemorated the Reformation in numerous other cities such as Wittenberg, where, according to tradition, Luther's theses were posted.
In Lund, Sweden, Pope Francis commemorated the beginning of the Reformation in the 16th century in a joint service with Lutherans on Monday. During his historic visit to Lund, Sweden, he called Christians to unity: "We must not resign ourselves to the division and alienation that division has caused among us."
The Pope and the President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop Munib Younan, signed an ecumenical declaration in the joint service in Lund Cathedral, in which they acknowledge the responsibility of both denominations for the church divisions that arose after the Reformation. In addition, Catholics and Lutherans affirmed their desire to make it possible for married couples of different denominations to celebrate Holy Communion together. "We experience the pain of all those who share their whole lives but cannot share God's redeeming presence in the Eucharistic meal," the joint word says.
Hopes that Francis might reach out more to Lutherans were not fulfilled. On the subject of communion, the Pope and the LWF President stressed that both sides longed for "this wound to be healed". That, he said, was the goal of ecumenical efforts. After signing the declaration, Pope Francis and Bishop Younan embraced.
Background on Luther's anti-semitism which was considered strong even in his own day
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