In a letter described by religious leaders as “unprecedented,” Pope John Paul II told the presiding bishop of the Lutheran Church in America that Christian unity “continues as a priority in the Catholic Church today” and praised the agreements by joint Lutheran-Catholic theological commissions over the last two decades. The Pope’s letter came in response to a letter from Bishop James R. Crumley Jr. of New York, who wrote the pontiff May 22 asking him to encourage U.S. Roman Catholics to study the last report issued by the joint commission, a 21,000-word study on “justification by faith,” a key doctrine of the Protestant Reformation.
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[REGINA – Canadian Press] The Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the world’s 70 million Anglicans, has called again for greater Christian unity. “We must seek Christian unity not as a fearful coalition in headlong retreat from the secular world,” Most Rev. Robert Runcie told about 1,300 people at a service yesterday in the Saskatchewan Centre
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by E. J. Dionne, New York Times Pope John Paul II celebrated his 65th birthday today before cheering crowds with talk of Christian unity and a stern warning to youth against the exploitation ”of our weaknesses and our passions.” John Paul, who has been criticized by some Protestant leaders for slowing ecumenical dialogue, called on
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by Jack Houston, Chicago Tribune The newly installed head of the National Council of Churches, in his first address before the ecumenical body’s governing board, called Wednesday for a public confession of past institutional sins, a healing of internal structure and a renewed commitment to the council’s goal of Christian unity and service to society.
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by Robert O’Connor, Chicago Tribune Last December, Rev. David Armstrong, minister of the First Limavady Presbyterian Church, performed what in most parts of the world would have been a little noted act of courtesy: He exchanged Christmas greetings with a neighbor, the pastor of the local Roman Catholic church. Last week he left town. He
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Following are excerpts from Pope John Paul II’s letter on Martin Luther, dated Oct. 31, and addressed to Johannes Cardinal Willebrands, Archbishop of Utrecht. The letter, which was written in German, was translated by The Associated Press from a text in Italian released today by the Vatican.

November 10, 1983, is the 500th anniversary of the birth of Doctor Martin Luther of Eisleben. On this occasion, numerous Christians, especially of the Lutheran-Evangelical confession, remember that theologian who contributed in a substantial manner to the radical change of ecclesiastical and secular reality in the West. Our world still experiences his great impact on history.

For the Catholic Church the name of Martin Luther has through the centuries been tied to a painful period in history, in particular to the experience of profound ecclesiastical divisions.

For this reason, the 500th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther must be for us an occasion to meditate, in Christian truth and charity, on that event engraved in history that was the epoch of the Reformation. It is time that we distance ourselves from historic events and assure that they are often better understood and evoked.
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“Many people today think the ecumenical movement is losing momentum; but, in fact, many marvelous things are taking place,” says Father Irenée Beaubien, SJ, director of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism here. He cited the example of the fruitful dialogue which has been going on for the past seven years between representatives of the Catholic and United Churches.
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A video of the Uniting Conference of the United Methodist Church, produced by the United Methodist Church’s General Commission on Archives and History. The UMC is a merger of the Evangelical United Brethren and the Methodist Church, bringing together two churches in the Wesleyan tradition. The Canadian portion of the EUB merged with the United Church of Canada.
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The Roman Catholic Church of the Netherlands and the Dutch Reformed Church, oldest of the Dutch Protestant churches, with roots in the Reformation of the 16th century, announced today that they had agreed to recognize each other’s baptism.

This latest step toward church unity in the Netherlands was announced by Bernard Cardinal Alfrink, leader of the Dutch Roman Catholic hierarchy, and the Rev. Dr. Gerit de Ru, president of the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church, at a news conference here.
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Within the awesome sight and sound of thundering cataracts that symbolize a harmony of two nations, the Canadian Council of Churches met under two flags at the Sheraton-Brock Hotel in Niagara falls. Ontario, and became absorbed chiefly with questions of greater church unity and closer cooperation. This fifteenth meeting of the twenty-year-old council, which now meets every two years, commenced in rain, proceeded in sunshine, and concluded in snow—signaling the onset, if not the onslaught, of Canadian winter—but the bright aspects of ecumenical progress outshone the passing clouds.

The council embraces about 85 per cent of Canada’s Protestants and Orthodox.¹ The National Councils of the YMCA–YWCA and the Student Christian Movement in Canada are affiliated members, while the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Lutheran Church of America are “friendly associates.” The Lutheran Church participates in the council’s department of ecumenical affairs.

The council has no administrative or legislative authority over its members. Its objectives are to give expression to the communions’ unity in Christ by providing them with an agency for conference, for consultation, and for common planning and action in a variety of fields, including political, economic, social, and moral areas.
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