They stuck a copy of their complaints to the doors of five cathedrals.

The priests' actions mimic the fable that Luther nailed his 95 theses against the Catholic Church to the door of a chapel in Wittenberg, Germany, 500 years ago.

Luther's action marked the beginning of the Reformation.

Given the international commemorations marking the 500th anniversary of Luther's protest, the current protest aimed for maximum publicity.

The priests' complaints are encapsulated in the Southwark Declaration.

The declaration focuses on the priests' concerns that the Anglican Church is corrupt by allowing gay couples to marry.

The Southwark Declaration, which contains five statements, was first published in 2015.

It affirms the "supreme authority" of the scriptures and calls on Church leaders to uphold the doctrine that marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman.

Last week's complaints were accompanied by the following statement, which accuses the Church of "revisionism".

"The Church of England claims it has not changed its doctrine, but its practice on the ground has already changed: clergy are already adopting lifestyles which are not biblical and teaching that such lifestyles are holy in the sight of God.

"This revisionism is causing a crisis not only in Southwark Diocese but across the Church of England.

"It is weakening and destroying the Church as it has done in the United States and Canada.

"When the Church redefines sin and eliminates repentance, it can no longer offer the good news of eternal salvation from sin in Jesus; the Church no longer remains distinctly Christian."

Bishops have "a narrow window" until the next General Synod in February, it says, to "regain the confidence of Bible-believing Anglicans" and avoid "rupturing" the Anglican Communion.

In response, the Archbishop of Canterbury called for "unity in our diversity" during his sermon at the Reformation anniversary service at Westminster Abbey on Tuesday.

"Luther set the Gospel free, and as human beings we seek continually to imprison it behind ritual and authority — or to make it serve politics or causes.

"Will we be willing ourselves to be reformed again and always, setting aside our differences because we are caught up in the grace that is found through faith?"

Source

• Church Times
• Anglican Mainstream

image: The Diocese of Southwark

"Five hundred years ago, Europe was a tinder box, it was ready to go aflame," said Martin Marty of the University of Chicago, himself a Lutheran and one of America's preeminent scholars of religion, in a recent Crux interview.

"Luther, an Augustinian friar, left his monastery and either posted by mail to the Archbishop of Mainz, or posted to the door of the church in Wittenberg in Saxony in southern Germany, 95 theses that he wanted to debate," Marty said.

"He hit exactly the points that were at issue in the hearts of so many people.

"They were all Catholics," Marty said, "and it struck their hearts, because they were struggling with the same things he was."

What that means, Marty suggested, is that despite centuries of bitter ecclesiastic rivalries, Protestants and Catholics have a common heritage, which he said has flowered in the modern ecumenical movement.

"I remember going once to a meeting of the World Council of Churches, where the topic was the nature of the unity we seek," Marty said.

"The bureaucratic typist from Geneva who sent the draft to us in the press room had said that the goal of Christian unity is that all in each place come to a ‘full committee fellowship!'"

Marty said of course, the word was supposed to be, come to a ‘fully committed fellowship' - "Today's Catholic and Lutheran leadership are both committed to finding new ways to move toward that fully committed fellowship." Continue reading

Sources

• Crux article by John L. Allen Jr., editor of Crux.
• Image: MysteryOfFaith blog

Luther may also have posted his manifesto, following academic tradition, on the door of All Saints Church near the University of Wittenberg where he taught (that he "nailed" it seems to be a myth), but in any case he did publish his ideas on the subject of indulgences in a stand against Catholic teaching on salvation, and started the second great schism in Christendom.

Five centuries later, what is the legacy of Martin Luther - to Christianity? To the world?

Luther opened up the Bible to the ordinary Christian, reminded them of the gratuitous, forgiving love of God and championed the individual conscience.

These developments would have happened anyway, and are affirmed in a general way by all denominations, but differences over the details are so critical that churches continue to divide and multiply, giving a negative witness to the Gospel in which Christ prays that "they all might be one".

The rapprochement of the last half century leaves seemingly unbridgeable gaps between Protestantism and Catholicism.

As for society in general - Western society anyway - it is marked by trends that would surely shock Luther himself. Certainly he was very sex positive, but what would he think of no-fault divorce, cohabitation and pre-marital sex, contraception, abortion, euthanasia, the normalisation of homosexuality, same-sex marriage and transgenderism? And of churches which accept all or most of these things?

Would Luther recognise his doctrine of the individual conscience in a contemporary individualism (acting collectively where necessary) that constantly claims new rights on the basis of "what I feel is right for me" - and wants to force other consciences to affirm its claims, no matter how irrational?

Well, perhaps he would, or should.

Nearly a century ago the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain identified Luther as the man who "discovered the self", thus preparing the way for modern individualism and the trends it has spawned. Continue reading

Sources

• MercatorNet article by Carolyn Moynihan, deputy editor of MercatorNet
• Image: The Out-of-Body Travel Foundation

It has been a cause of some concern and consternation for many Catholics to have learned that there will be Catholic (even papal) participation in various events connected to this anniversary. What could be celebrated? The break-up of Catholic unity? The demise of Christendom? The impetus for rationalism and secularism?

To commemorate, perhaps, but surely not to celebrate. Even many serious Protestant clergy and theologians have insisted that one must not celebrate something that brought on such dire (and probably undesired, unforeseen) consequences. To commemorate would necessarily mean studying the causes and the unfolding of events - learning from the errors and repenting of the sins of any and all that rent the seamless garment of Christ.

This is no more and no less than what the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council urged and what St. John Paul II often referred to as "the healing of memories." Which means genuine honesty. That honesty was carried on in spades at the Council of Trent and in the Counter-Reformation, both of which admitted that true problems had crept into the Church and needed correction.

Since Luther is such a pivotal character in the drama of the sixteenth century, it behooves all to put him under the microscope for closer observation. To be sure, Luther was a brilliant theologian. He was also deeply imbued with the understanding of the absolute holiness of God, the centrality of Christ in the work of our salvation, and the concomitant need for the Church to be the spotless Bride of the Redeemer which St. Paul calls her. Continue reading

Sources

• The Catholic World Report, article by Reverend Peter M.J. Stravinskas, the editor of the The Catholic Response.
• Image: bio.

In his view, next year's 500th anniversary of Luther's break from the Catholic church would be a perfect time to right past wrongs.

Cooper, who is the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles says this would involve the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) apologising for its antisemitic views and behaviours.

The EKD combines the Lutheran, Reformed and United Protestant regional and denominational groups. About 23 million people belong to the EKD in Germany.

"It would be appropriate, especially when antisemitism is so rife in Europe for Protestant leaders and groups, like the World Council of Churches, to directly address the issue [of Luther's antisemitism] in the overall context of what they're celebrating in terms of this anniversary," Cooper said.

In fact, some work has already been done to right this wrong.

The leader of the Baptist World Alliance has praised the EKD in Germany for denouncing Luther's antisemitism.

"One of the important actions taken by the EKD as it prepared for the celebration was to issue … a declaration distancing itself from Luther's anti-Jewish stance," BWA General Secretary Neville Callam said. He was commenting in a blog post "Towards Closer Communion".

Another supporter of the church apologising for its antisemitic past is David Michaels. He is the director of United Nations and Intercommunal Affairs with B'nai B'rith, which is the oldest Jewish service organization in the world.

Michaels believes the Lutheran church should acknowledge its past and repudiate Martin Luther's antisemitism.

"A number of individual Lutheran church bodies and figures have taken steps over the years to acknowledge, grapple with and repudiate the antisemitism that Luther ultimately promoted ... which was still felt in the implementation of the Holocaust," he said.

Although Luther didn't initially come out as being antisemitic, by 1543 he had completed and published a treatise "On Jews and their Lies".

Besides denouncing them, it also suggests murdering them, burning their temples and religious works, destroying their houses and ruining their businesses.

The Catholic Church apologised for its antisemitic stance in 1965 during the Second Vatican Council.

Source

• Christian Examiner
• Baptist News Global
• Image: The Forward

Germany's Catholic bishops have praised Martin Luther as a "Gospel witness and teacher of the faith" and called for closer ties with Protestants.

In a 206-page report, "The Reformation in Ecumenical Perspective", Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg, chairman of the German bishops' ecumenical commission, made the following statement:

The "history of the Reformation has encountered a changeable reception in the Catholic Church, where its events and protagonists were long seen in a negative, derogatory light.

"While the wounds are still felt to the present day, it is gratifying that Catholic theology has succeeded, in the meantime, in soberly reconsidering the events of the 16th century," he said in the report, published this week by Germany's Bonn-based bishops' conference.

Bishop Feige said the "history and consequences" of the Reformation would be debated during its upcoming 500th anniversary, but added that there was consensus that previous mutual condemnations were invalid.

"Memories of the Reformation and the subsequent separation of Western Christianity are not free from pain," Bishop Feige said.

"But through lengthy ecumenical dialogue, the theological differences rooted in the period have been re-evaluated - as is documented in the work presented by our ecumenical commission."

Martin Lazar, the Magdeburg diocesan spokesman, told Catholic News Service on Wednesday that the Reformation still caused tensions in Germany, especially "in religiously separated families."

The bishops' report said the "Catholic Church may recognise today what was important in the Reformation - namely, that Sacred Scripture is the centre and standard for all Christian life.

"Connected with this is Martin Luther's fundamental insight that God's self-revelation in Jesus Christ for the salvation of the people is proclaimed in the Gospel."

• Catholic Herald
• Image: www.biography.com

City authorities finally approved a 2009 proposal by the Union of Seventh Day Adventist Churches to mark the 500th anniversary of the start of the Reformation.

The Vatican reportedly did not oppose the project, and this was seen as a key step in the project's go-ahead.

The "Piazza Martin Lutero" will be officially named on September 16, 2016.

The piazza will be located in the Parco del Colle Oppio park, crossing the Viale Fortunato Mizzi.

The descriptive shield will read: "Martin Luther square. German Theologian."

Continue reading

Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith wrote that for "a digital illustration of respective theological worldviews, look at the two giants of social media".

The priest wrote that Facebook is "cheerful, friendly, conciliatory" and "tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach - if not the Kingdom of Heaven - the moment in which their document is printed".

On the other hand, Twitter is "Protestant, or even Calvinistic" because it "allows free interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions, imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user and takes for granted the idea that not all can reach salvation".

Anonymous polemicists on Twitter remind Fr Lucie-Smith of Martin Luther's insults against the Pope.

Facebook, in contrast, is "a congregation, a community - and that, in my opinion, makes Facebook Catholic", he said.

Continue reading

Playmobil's Luther toy sold out, with 34,000 copies being snapped up in 72 hours.

Most were sold in Germany, and 5 per cent went to international buyers.

The German toymaker released the "little Luther" to mark the 500th anniversary of the publication of Protestant reformer's 95 theses in 1617.

A spokesperson for the company called the runaway success of the toy "a big mystery [and] a huge surprise".

The figurine comes dressed in 16th century academic robes, with cap, scroll and quill.

An urgent order has been placed with Palymobil's Maltese factory which makes the toy, but another batch is not expected to be available until April.

Continue reading

In a joint document — entitled From Conflict to Communion — the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation said there is little purpose in dredging up centuries-old disagreements.

The lengthy text looks at the joint responsibility for the division of the Western Church in the 16th century, addressing the challenges of healing those memories and working together for reconciliation and common witness to the world.

Topics explored in the document include the basic themes of Martin Luther's theology with a view to Lutheran-Catholic dialogue, as well as focusing on five ecumenical imperatives for the relationship between both churches as they commemorate 2017 together.

The birth of the Reformation is traditionally regarded as October 31, 1517, when Luther, a German monk and theologian, is thought to have nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg his 95 theses addressing issues that he saw as urgently in need of reform.

Re-examining the history of the Reformation and the split it created, the document stresses that Luther "had no intention of establishing a new church, but was part of a broad and many-faceted desire for reform" within the Church.

"The fact that the struggle for this truth in the 16th century led to the loss of unity in Western Christendom belongs to the dark pages of Church history," the document says. "In 2017, we must confess openly that we have been guilty before Christ of damaging the unity of the Church."

The joint document acknowledges that in today's world most Christians live in the Global South and thus "do not easily see the confessional conflicts of the 16th century as their own conflicts".

Even in the Old World, "the awareness is dawning on Lutherans and Catholics that the struggle of the 16th century is over. The reasons for mutually condemning each other's faith have fallen by the wayside."

Sources:

Religion News Service

Vatican Radio

Image: Time and Date

A report from Reuters said German Protestants have invited Catholics to join in the celebrations, but it is still hard for some Catholics to accept the invite.

"It's not impossible in principle, but it depends on the character of the events planned," said Bishop Gerhard Feige, the top Catholic official dealing with Protestants.

In a statement for the Protestant Reformation Day holiday on Wednesday, Feige said Catholics consider the division of the western Church as a tragedy "and - at least until now - do not think they can celebrate this merrily."

The Reformation began in 1517 when German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to a church door to denounce corruption in the Catholic Church, especially the sale of indulgences to help build the lavish new Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Excommunicated by Rome, he won support from German princes who soon battled others who remained Catholic. The ensuing wars of religion killed about a third of Germany's population over the next century and spread to neighboring countries as well.

After Luther's break with Rome, dissent spread and thousands of new denominations eventually emerged, the largest being the Presbyterians, Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists and Lutherans.

Luther is also a major cultural figure in Germany thanks to his pioneering translation of the Bible.

Commemorative church services, concerts and conferences leading up to 2017 are already underway around Germany.

Reuters said the mix of religious, cultural and commercial activities led Feige to ask what the Catholics were being invited to join.

"Many initiatives and plans may well be justified, but it's not always easy to find out what 2017 will be all about," he wrote in what he called his "Ten Catholic Theses".

"It would be good if the Protestants would work out some points more clearly," he said.

Sources

• Reuters
• Christian Post
• Image: Theological Matters