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Pope Francis expresses gratitude to Martin Luther but swerves eucharist question in first address in Sweden
POPE IN SWEDEN: Pope Francis today praised Martin Luther in what were the most positive remarks made yet by a pontiff about a man excommunicated for his attempts to root out abuses within the Catholic Church. He made the comments during a special joint Catholic and Lutheran prayer gathering in...
Instead of vilifying Luther as the perpetrator of a pernicious poison, Francis affirms him as a truly Catholic pastor who confronted ecclesial corruption. And Francis says he did this by administering medicine for the church—ultimately, the doctrine of justification by faith alone.Oct 31, 2016
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Pope Francis today praised Martin Luther in what were the most positive remarks made yet by a pontiff about a man excommunicated following his attempts to root out abuses within the Catholic Church. He made the comments during a special joint Catholic and Lutheran prayer gathering in Lund, Sweden where the two churches pledged to end half a millennium of division.
“With gratitude we acknowledge that the Reformation helped give greater centrality to Sacred Scripture in the Church’s life,” Francis said in the 11th century Lutheran Cathedral in a service marking 500 years since the birth of the Reformation. “The spiritual experience of Martin Luther challenges us to remember that apart from God we can do nothing.”
He added: “With the concept of ‘by grace alone,’ he [Luther] reminds us that God always takes the initiative, prior to any human response, even as he seeks to awake that response. The doctrine of justification thus expresses the essence of human existence before God.”
