ELCA NEWS SERVICE
March 23, 2006
ELCA Delegation Greets Pope, Presents Icon At March 22 Audience
06-045-JB
VATICAN CITY (ELCA) -- An 18-member delegation of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) greeted Pope
Benedict XVI following his regular weekly audience March 22 here
at St. Peter's Basilica. Five members of the ELCA Conference of
Bishops presented the pope with an icon of St. Augustine and
delivered a written greeting authored by the Rev. Lowell G.
Almen, ELCA secretary. Chicago.
The icon and message were presented to the pope on behalf of
the ELCA, Almen said. The icon was made specifically for Pope
Benedict XVI, and was created by the Rev. Gary L. Safrit, retired
ELCA pastor, Greer, S.C., he said.
Joining Almen for the presentations to Pope Benedict XVI
were the Rev. Allen C. Bjornberg, bishop of the ELCA Rocky
Mountain Synod, Denver; the Rev. Philip L. Hougen, bishop of the
ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod, Des Moines; the Rev. E. Roy Riley,
bishop of the ELCA New Jersey Synod, Hamilton Square, and chair
of the ELCA Conference of Bishops; and the Rev. Steven L.
Ullestad, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Iowa Synod, Waverly.
Almen and Riley are leading the ELCA delegation.
Almen and the bishops were seated within a few feet of the
pope while the remainder of the delegation was seated nearby
behind a small barrier.
The ELCA delegation is visiting here as part of an extended
ecumenical journey, organized by the churchwide organization
every three years. The Lutherans met last week with world church
leaders in Geneva and Istanbul, and will travel March 25 to
London for the final part of their journey. Most of the
delegation's meetings in Rome are with officials of The Vatican.
Thousands of people filled much of St. Peter's Square for
the 90-minute public audience. It included readings from
Scripture and a short homily by Pope Benedict XVI. The pope's
staff read aloud -- in several languages -- the names of several
guests in attendance, including an acknowledgement for the ELCA
delegation. The pope also greeted visitors in several languages.
Greetings to Pope Benedict XVI
In the written greeting from the ELCA, Almen began by
greeting the pontiff on behalf of the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA
presiding bishop, and the 4.9 million members of the ELCA.
Hanson also serves as president of the 66-million-member Lutheran
World Federation (LWF), a global communion of Lutheran churches
based in Geneva.
The ELCA secretary noted that in November 2005, Pope
Benedict XVI welcomed Hanson to The Vatican. In his remarks
then, the pope commented on the international Lutheran-Roman
Catholic Dialogue that produced the "Joint Declaration on the
Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ)," a significant theological
document signed in 1999 between the LWF and The Vatican. Pope
Benedict XVI called the JDDJ "a significant milestone on our
common path to full visible unity."
"We as representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America are mindful, with you, of the need for building on the
milestone of the "Joint Declaration," the greeting said.
"Further, we yearn for ways to observe jointly the 50th
anniversary in 2015 of the promulgation of Dei Verbum from the
Second Vatican Council, and to mark in 2017 the 500th anniversary
of the events of 1517, particularly in terms of their wholesome
contemporary implications for ongoing renewal and reform."
Lutherans are mindful of the need for a "holy restlessness"
in pursuit of deeper recognition and practice of God-given unity,
the greeting said. "Such a holy restlessness is not for the sake
of our churches alone, but also for the sake of the salvation of
the world through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ," the
greeting said.
"We also sense the urgent need for renewal of the churches
in the secular context of societies," the greeting said. "This
renewal will lead, under the guidance of God's Spirit, to more
profound obedience to the Word and the broader evangelization of
the world through the power of the Gospel."
"The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- like the
Roman Catholic Church in the U.S.A. and other churches -- is an
immigrant church. Churches in the U.S.A. grew and ministered in
the midst of the various waves of immigration from all parts of
the world throughout the past three centuries. Further, the
context of the American churches has none of the state-church
features of some countries in the world," the greeting said.
In the United States the official Lutheran-Roman Catholic
Dialogue, now in its
41st year, "is active and fruitful," and has produced
"significant documents," the greeting said. In December 2005 the
11th round began with the topic, "Hope for Eternal Life." The
round is to address some matters listed for further discussion in
the process that led to the JDDJ, the greeting said. Almen is
the Lutheran co-chair for this round of the dialogue; the Most
Rev. Richard J. Sklba, auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Milwaukee, is Roman Catholic co-chair.
"Given the continuing journey of the faithful in the earthly
pilgrimage of our churches, we join you in persistent prayer for
healing of the divisions at the Eucharistic table, even as we
also beg for God's healing of our hearts and lives as we kneel
under the eternal shadow of the Cross," the greeting concluded.
On March 24, the ELCA delegation will see Pope Benedict XVI
again. On that day the Lutherans have been invited to attend a
consistory, at which the pope will elevate 15 Roman Catholic
Church leaders to cardinal. Among them are two men from the
United States -- Archbishop William J. Levada, prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with whom the ELCA
delegation met briefly on March 22; and Archbishop Sean Patrick
O'Malley O.F.M. Cap., Archdiocese of Boston.
---
Information about The Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI is at
on the Web.
Information about the concistory is at
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2006/documents/ns_lit
_doc_20060324_index-concistoro_en.html on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
