‘Much work’ remains in ecumenical dialogue, Pope tells Swedish Lutheran leader

May 04, 2015

Pope Francis received the Lutheran archbishop of Sweden in audience on May 4 and said that the Christian division contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and harms the cause of the preaching of the Gospel.

“Much work” remains to be done in the ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans, the Pope said, who said that we should accept one another as “brothers and sisters in the faith” rather than look upon one another as competitors.

“The witness of our persecuted brothers and sisters spurs us to grow in fraternal communion,” the Pope added. “Of urgent relevance is also the question of the dignity of human life, always to be respected, as well as the themes related to the family, marriage and sexuality that cannot be silenced or ignored for fear of jeopardizing the ecumenical consensus already achieved.”

 

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Further information:

• Udienza alla Sig.ra Dr. Antje Jackelén, Arcivescovo Luterano di Uppsala, e alla Delegazione della Chiesa Evangelica-Luterana di Svezia (Holy See Press Office)