`Dominus Iesus’: The Ecumenical Reaction

c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) _ Following is a sampling of the responses to the “Declaration Dominus Iesus” issued Sept. 5 by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: X X X George L. Carey, archbishop of Canterbury: “This document breaks no new ground. But neither does it fully reflect the deeper […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) _ Following is a sampling of the responses to the “Declaration Dominus Iesus” issued Sept. 5 by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith:

X X X


George L. Carey, archbishop of Canterbury:

“This document breaks no new ground. But neither does it fully reflect the deeper understanding that has been achieved through ecumenical dialogue and cooperation during the past 30 years. Even though the document is not part of that process, the idea that Anglican and other churches are not `proper churches’ seems to question the considerable ecumenical gains we have made.”

X X X

Dr.Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation:

“We are disappointed that 35 years of ecumenical dialogue between Roman Catholics and Lutherans seem not to have been considered in the formulation of the letter and documents issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The impact of these statements is more painful because they reflect a different spirit than that which we encounter in many other Lutheran-Roman Catholic relationships.”

X X X

The Rev. Geoffrey Wainwright, chairman of the World Methodist Council’s

Committee on Ecumenism and Dialogues, and the Rev. Joe Hale, the

council’s chief executive:

“The World Methodist Council welcomes the reaffirmation of Jesus Christ as the one savior of the world made by the Vatican in the recent declaration Dominus Iesus. In its continuing dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, the World Methodist Council looks forward to further exploration on the question of how each partner can come to a fuller recognition of the churchly character of the other.”

X X X

Dr. Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches:

“(The declaration is) made without ecumenical sensitivity (and) seems to go against the spirit of Vatican II and the progress made in relationships and dialogues since then.”

X X X

Aldo Casonato, president of the Christian Evangelical Union of Baptist Churches in Italy:

“Italian Baptists are convinced that all churches have serious deficiencies in faith, hope and, above all, in love, and because of this, yesterday as today, they must invoke the mercy and the pardon of God.”

X X X

Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow:

“Catholics and Orthodox have a different conception of the church’s universality, and this continues to be the heart of the question.”

X X X

Amos Luzzatto, president of the Jewish communities in Italy:

“Cardinal Ratzinger can do all the verbal acrobatics he wishes, but, in practice, for Jews, the New Testament doesn’t even exist. Moreover, to say that the only possible mediator for salvation is Jesus Christ removes us from all dialogue.”

X X X

Hamza Piccardo, leader of Muslims in Italy:

“We apply the verse of the Koran according to which those who believe in Allah and the prophets, one of whom is Jesus, will be saved.”


X X X

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, archbishop of Milan:

The document says clearly that salvation is possible for everyone (who) lives with love, is capable of pardon, of sacrificing oneself for others and opening oneself to the ethical horizons that have their last motivation in Jesus Christ. Whoever lives these attitudes, even without knowing it, is already tied to Jesus Christ.”

X X X

The German branch of We Are Church, a movement of progressive Catholics campaigning for racial changes in church doctrine on papal infallibility, the ordination of women and homosexuality:

“The declaration is a questionable attempt to reinstate the defeated absolutist image of the church from the First Vatican Council with its limitless primacy of the pope. It stands in stark contrast to the hopeful concern for inter-Christian ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue initiated by the Second Vatican Council.”

X X X

The Rev. Hans Kung, Swiss theologian disciplined for questioning papal infallibility:

“The declaration of the ex-Holy Office is a mixture of Medieval backwardness and Vatican megalomania.”

KRE END RNS

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