Worms Memorandum

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The Worms Memorandum , a March 6, 1971 to the head of the Catholic Church Pope Paul VI. directed open letter , asked the Pope for "a word of clarification about the person and teachings of Martin Luther from today's Catholic point of view" and therefore to take steps with the aim of excommunication over the reformer Martin Luther, whose work for the constitution of Protestant Churches of and parts Protestantism led to repeal as well as about its followers.

The memorandum was drawn up by representatives of the laity and the clergy of the Roman Catholic deanery in Worms . Her concern was to promote Christian ecumenism and to contribute to the Reformation celebrations in "Luther Year 1971" in her hometown: With the withdrawal of the bull "the erroneous impression of the general condemnation of Luther's teachings and his personal discrimination would be removed" . After four and a half centuries "one of the causes of an untimely burden on the relationship between Christians " could be rendered ineffective , at the same time "[...] the impression of an undifferentiated, general legitimation of Lutheran teachings should be avoided". To justify this, reference was made to current discussions about theological appreciation and canonical rehabilitation of Luther.

The occasion was the 450th anniversary of the imposition of the excommunication by Pope Leo X. with the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem and the imposition of the imperial ban on Luther by the Worms Edict in 1521. The memorandum was in German, Latin, Greek, French and Spanish released.

The negative response of the Roman Catholic church leadership, communicated in a letter from President Johannes Willebrands of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity of July 14, 1971, pointed to the desired but still pending consensus of the churches regarding those condemned under the "Lutheran ban" Doctrines .

Richard Wisser was honored with the City of Worms Ring of Honor in 2007 in recognition of his commitment as co-initiator and author of the Worms Memorandum .

background

Paul VI In 1965 the excommunication of the Patriarch of Constantinople, pronounced in 1054, was effectively canceled, which had played an important role in the origin and continuation of the Oriental Schism . In the ecumenical dialogue after the Second Vatican Council and during the work of Evangelical Lutheran / Roman Catholic commissions and working groups that began after 1965, Luther's canonical rehabilitation was also discussed, for example, the Catholic theologians Hans Küng and Bernhard Häring called for the ban on Luther to be lifted. Before the General Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Évian in July 1970, Johannes Willebrands stated that Luther's intention was to reform the Church, not to divide it, and that his reform concerns had been recognized since the renewal of Catholic theology at the Second Vatican Council.

A conference of Catholic theologians and church historians in the monastery of Le Saulchoir near Paris , initially unknown to the public, had developed an internal recommendation for the Roman Catholic church leadership in October 1970 "how the Luther celebrations to be expected in 1971 could be influenced as effectively as possible for the ecumenical community" , and It expressed itself against the lifting of the ban. Joseph Lortz , a participant in the conference, had declared in January 1971 that there were “in fact statements made by Luther that have no place within the Catholic creed” , the lifting of the ban would mean that “the condemnations that the Catholic Church has pronounced are not true on any point ! "

In 1999, with the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, as the first significant step in ecumenical consensus-building, those of the mutual condemnations that had been pronounced since the Reformation and which concern the doctrine of justification were withdrawn as no longer true.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Rudolf Knecht, Paul Sürder, Leonhard Veith u. a. On the occasion, Catholics from Worms asked Pope Paul VI. a clarifying word on the person and teaching of Martin Luther from today's Catholic point of view in the interest of deepening ecumenical work. Worms 1971. Reprinted in: Fritz Reuter (editor). 1521 - Luther in Worms - 1971. Speeches, lectures, sermons and reports on the 450th anniversary. Worms 1973. pp. 175-189.
  2. ↑ Τό ὑπόμνημα τῶν καθολικῶν τῆς Βορματίας: Περί ἐπανακρίσεως τοῦ Λουθήρου. πρόλογος - μετάφρασις Ἀλέξανδρου Κ. Παπαδεροῦ. Χανιά 1972. pp. 8-19
  3. ^ Folia Humanistica. Tomo IX, Núms. 103-104, Barcelona 1971. pp. 589-595.
  4. ↑ Printed in: Fritz Reuter (editor). 1521 - Luther in Worms - 1971. Speeches, lectures, sermons and reports on the 450th anniversary. Worms 1973. pp. 217-218.
  5. ↑ a b Erwin Iserloh . Lifting the Luther ban? Reflections on church history on a current question. In: Remigius Bäumer (editor). Luther trial and Luther ban. Prehistory, result, aftermath. Catholic life and church reform in the age of religious schism, Volume 32. Münster 1972, pp. 69–80.
  6. ↑ Josef Schork and Professor Dr. Richard Wisser awarded the ring of honor. In: worms.de. Retrieved April 1, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Luther. Man without measure. The mirror 45/1967.
  8. ↑ Luther's last victory. Christ and the world 13/2011.
  9. ↑ Lutheran World Federation, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (editor). From conflict to community. Joint Lutheran-Catholic Reformation commemoration in 2017. Leipzig, Paderborn 2013. ISBN 978-3-89710-549-2 . Sections 28, 29.
  10. ↑ Johannes Willebrands. Sent into the world. Lecture to the Fifth General Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation, Evian 1970. In: Chr. Krause, W. Müller-Römheld (editor). Official report of the Fifth General Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation. Evangelical press service documentation, Volume 3. Witten, Frankfurt, Berlin 1970, pp. 97–99. Online: Sent into the world. In: Ecclesiastical gazette of the Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church of Mecklenburg . No. 9/10, Schwerin 1970. pp. 5-9.
  11. ↑ Joseph Lortz. Kitten and don't split any further. To the open letter from Worms Catholics to the Würzburg Synod. Mainzer Allgemeine Zeitung, January 16, 1973. p. 3.
  12. ↑ Richard Wisser. Waiting for the Pope. On the history, history and impact of the “Worms Memorandum”. In: Fritz Reuter (editor). 1521 - Luther in Worms - 1971. Speeches, lectures, sermons and reports on the 450th anniversary. Worms 1973. pp. 190-216.
  13. ↑ Return of a banished man. Interview with Joseph Lortz. Worldview 1/1971. Publisher Winfried-Werk Augsburg. P. 50.