Det var i 1999 katolikker og lutheranere undertegnet et dokument i Augsburg, der de uttrykker (nesten helt full) enighet om hvordan mennesker kan bli rettferdige for Gud (og jeg skrev i 2002 en vurdering av avtalen). Stadig flere kirkesamfunn slutter seg til denne avtalen; sist uke var det de reformerte kirkenes tur, metodistene har gjort det samme for flere år siden, og anglikanerne skal gjøre det senere i år (overraskende at dette har tatt så lang tid for anglikanerne). På religionnews.com kan vi bl.a. lese:
Amid ceremonies this year marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, one of Protestantism’s leading branches has officially said it now agrees with the Vatican on the main issue at the root of its split from the Roman Catholic Church half a millennium ago.
The World Communion of Reformed Churches, holding its once-in-seven-years worldwide General Council in Germany, signed a declaration this week endorsing the 1999 Catholic-Lutheran agreement on how Christians might be worthy of salvation in the eyes of God.
The ceremony took place in Wittenberg, where in 1517 Martin Luther unveiled the 95 Theses that launched the Reformation and with it centuries of dispute about whether eternal salvation comes from faith alone — the position of the new Protestant movement — or if it also requires good works on Earth as Catholics argued.
This decision by the WCRC — representing 80 million members of Congregational, Presbyterian, Reformed, United, Uniting and Waldensian churches — marked another step in a gradual but remarkable reconciliation on this issue among Christians who once fought wars and declared each other heretics over just such questions.
The World Methodist Council formally endorsed the Catholic-Lutheran accord, known as the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, in 2006. The Anglican Communion is expected to do the same later this year. …