(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’ visit to Sweden for the joint commemoration of the Reformation comes as the culmination of 50 years of dialogue between Lutherans and Catholics, who’ll be recommitting themselves to shared witness and service.
That’s the view of the Lutheran World Federation’s Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations, Rev Dr Kaisamari Hintikka , who was closely involved in preparations for the events in the southern Swedish cities of Lund and Malmo.
The Pope and Lutheran leaders presided together on Monday at a prayer service in Lund cathedral before travelling together to a sports stadium in Malmo for a celebration of common commitment organised by the Catholic confederation Caritas Internationalis and by the Lutheran World Service.
Ahead of these historic events, Susy Hodges spoke to Rev Hintikka to find out more about the ecumenical significance of the Pope’s presence in Sweden…
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Rev Hintikka says it’s an event which has been building “over 50 years of faithful and careful dialogue and theological reflection by Lutherans and Catholics”. The significance “is not just about what we do in Lund”, she says, but about the “remarkable progress we’ve been able to make”.
She notes two key ecumenical documents of the past decades, the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, and the 2013 booklet ‘From Conflict to Communion’ in which, for the first time, Lutherans and Catholics “tell the story of the Reformation together”. We want to build on that, she says, “through a stronger joint commitment to witness to the world and service to our neighbour”.
Speaking about the location of these events in Sweden, Rev Hintikka explains that while the Reformation has its roots deep in German and north European soil, it is a global Church today and Sweden is important as the place where the LWF was founded in 1947. Lund cathedral, she continues, has both a Catholic and a Lutheran history dating back a thousand years and the joint prayer service there is an attempt to bring those histories together.
Asked about those who question why Catholics should celebrate this anniversary, Rev Hintikka says it’s important to keep in mind that while we celebrate the gifts of the Reformation, it has also been the trigger for much hatred, violence and human suffering in Europe and beyond. We need to be able to learn from that history, she says, and to concentrate on “healing of the churches, of our relationships and of the world”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) As Pope Francis makes his 17th Apostolic visit to Sweden for a joint commemoration of the Reformation together with leaders of the Lutheran World Federation, the President of the Federation says he reciprocates the Pope’s feeling of closeness between the two Churches.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s interview with Bishop Munib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation
Bishop Munib Younan, speaking about his own personal hopes for the visit notes, “we have behind us fifty years of deep dialogue between the Lutheran Church and the Catholic Church and this dialogue is built on issues and this is the reason we sighed the joint declaration…” He also says this commemoration consolidates that closeness which shows “we are brothers and sisters in Christ”.
He stresses that, “the division of the past must not determine our future today” and like the Pope, he emphasizes the urgency of Christian unity because of those being persecuted and killed for their Christian faith in different parts of the world including the Middle East .
Bishop Younan says when he returns to the Middle East he wants to bring back with him a message of unity, underlining that, “only unity will strengthen the Churches in Jerusalem, in the Holy Land and in the whole Middle East. This unity is not our work, it is the work of the Holy Spirit and we must take it seriously.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has arrived in Sweden for a two-day apostolic journey where, together with the heads of the Lutheran World Federation he will jointly preside at an ecumenical prayer service in Lund cathedral, followed by a public witness event in the nearby city of Malmö.
On Tuesday morning, All Saints Day, the Pope will celebrate Mass in Malmö for Sweden’s tiny Catholic community.
Highlighting the importance of this apostolic journey to Sweden to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the protestant Reformation, the Pope asked journalists to help the public understand.
Greeting media professionals travelling on board the papal plane to Malmo on Monday morning, Pope Francis said: “This journey is important because it is an ecclesial journey, it’s very ecclesial in the field of ecumenism.
“Your work will be a big contribution in making sure people understand well” he said.
The formal occasion for the Pope’s visit to Sweden is to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The event comes as the culmination of years of theological progress, from the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999, to the publication of a shared history of the Reformation in the 2013 document ‘From Conflict to Communion’.
Before travelling to the Lutheran Cathedral of Lund for the joint ecumenical prayer service on Monday afternoon, an official welcome ceremony at Malmö International Airport saw state and religious authorities on the tarmac to receive Pope Francis.
As per protocol, the Prime Minister of the host country, Sweden’s Stefan Löfven, and the Minister of Culture and Democracy meet privately with the Pope at the Airport.
Also before the ecumenical service which is scheduled to begin at 2.15pm, the Pope will pay a courtesy visit to the Swedish King and Queen, Carl XVI Gustav and Silvia, at Lund’s Royal Palace (the Kungshuset).
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Catholic Church in Sweden is hoping Pope Francis will bring a message of faith, hope and unity to a very secular society. The Pope arrives in the southern city of Malmö on Monday and travels to nearby Lund to take part in an ecumenical prayer service with leaders of the Lutheran World Federation in the cathedral there.
Later in the afternoon, he returns to Malmö for an event in the main sports arena jointly organised by Caritas Internationalis and the Lutheran World Service. The theme of the event ‘ Together in Hope ’ is focused on common witness and service to those most in need.
On Monday the Pope will celebrate Mass for the Solemnity of All Saints day in Malmö before returning to Rome in the afternoon.
Oblate Father Fredrik Emanuelson is episcopal vicar for evangelization in Stockholm, the only Catholic diocese in the country and has been helping to coordinate this papal visit to Sweden. He talked to Philippa Hitchen about the country’s tiny Catholic community and the about the challenges of ecumenical collaboration…
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Fr Emanuelson says the Catholic Church in Sweden has an “enormous cultural diversity,” with immigrants of 2nd, 3rd and even 4th generations making up the majority of people in the 44 parishes, mainly located around the big cities.
There are also a dozen or more national missions with people gathering around priests of different nationalities, cultures or languages. A key pastoral challenge therefore, he says, is “to live as a Catholic community in unity” the relationships between parishes and national missions.
Officially registered Catholics number only 113.000, Fr Emanuelson says, there are known to be many more unregistered throughout the country.
Dialogue between Church and society
The Swedish Lutheran Church was a state church from 1593 up until the year 2000, when there was separation between State and Church. It is still by far the biggest Church, but Fr Emanuelson notes that “the reality of believing, practicing Christians is Sweden is just a fraction of that membership”. The real challenge today, he says, is not so much dialogue between Churches but between the Gospel and Swedish society.
Message of faith and hope
Asked about the message the Pope can bring on this visit, Fr Emanuelson says he hopes it will be a message of faith and hope in a country where social welfare is well advanced, yet where there are new challenges with the many refugees from the Middle East. He says Swedes “have to be careful to live up to values that we call our core values and, as Churches, to help in a practical way and to be prophetic witnesses in leading the way”.
3 elements of commemoration
Speaking about the ecumenical events on Monday, Fr Emanuelson points out that the initiative stems from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Lutheran World Federation but is also being hosted by the Stockholm dioceses, “so we have 3 different levels, global, national and local level and 2 different churches. He describes it as “a very courageous thing to do” and explains the way the events are “taking the cue” from the 2013 report ‘From Conflict to Communion ’. That document details the 3 main elements of commemoration – thanksgiving for the official dialogue which began 50 years ago and has brought the Churches much closer together. The 2nd moment, he continues, speaks of penance and of recognizing “the pain and the hurt we’ve caused one another”, encouraging us to look ahead and “to ask how can we mend and have purification of memory”. The 3rd moment, he says, is “in service and witness to live the Gospel in Sweden and the world today”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has departed from Rome’s Fiumicino airport on his 17th Apostolic visit to Sweden for a joint commemoration of the Reformation, together with leaders of the Lutheran World Federation.
Following his arrival at Malmo international airport the Pope will be greeted by the Swedish Prime Minister. The Holy Father is also due to pay a courtesy visit to the King and Queen of which will be followed this afternoon by an ecumenical prayer service at the Lutheran Cathedral of Lund.
The Holy Father’s Apostolic journey concludes on Tuesday afternoon November 1st after the celebration of Mass at the Swedbank Stadioum in Malmo.
(from Vatican Radio)…