LWF delegation met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on October 21, 2013. The delegation included General Bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia Dr. Milos Klatik, Chairperson of the Council Committee for Theology and Ecumenical Relations.
The LWF delegation - LWF President Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, Vice-Presidents for North America, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia, LWF General Secretary Rev Martin Junge, LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations Rev. Dr. Kaisamari Hintikka, Chairperson of the Council Committee for Theology and Ecumenical Relations Bishop Dr. Miloš Klátik, and the representatives of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity Bishop emeritus Dr. Eero Huovinen and Prof. Theodor Dieter, director of the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg - met with Pope Francis on the audience at the Vatican.
Leaders from the LWF expressed gratitude for the partnership with the Roman Catholic Church focused on the commitment to the poor and vulnerable.
The President of the LWF Bishop Younan expressed gratitude to the Commission for the recent publication “From Conflict to Communion: Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration in 2017.”
The LWF General Secretary Martin Junge thanked the pope for his clear and passionate reminder to the humans and governments of the duty to protect migrants and refugees.
General Secretary presented Pope Francis with a kettle from a Somali refugee woman at the largest refugee camp in Dadaab. He explained that the hot tea made in the kettle was almost the only thing that sustained the group of refugees as they fled to Kenya. He added that this gift is an invitation to do more together for the sake of the suffering.
The pope expressed appreciation for the kettle as the dimension of ecumenism. He added:“The persecution does not know denominational barriers. Religious divisions do not define people fleeing or migrating in order to safeguard their own lives. They are defined by what they are: children of God.”
Oľga Hederová, Foreign Relations Dpt.; foreign@ecav.sk
The President of the LWF Bishop Younan expressed gratitude to the Commission for the recent publication “From Conflict to Communion: Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration in 2017.”
The LWF General Secretary Martin Junge thanked the pope for his clear and passionate reminder to the humans and governments of the duty to protect migrants and refugees.
General Secretary presented Pope Francis with a kettle from a Somali refugee woman at the largest refugee camp in Dadaab. He explained that the hot tea made in the kettle was almost the only thing that sustained the group of refugees as they fled to Kenya. He added that this gift is an invitation to do more together for the sake of the suffering.
The pope expressed appreciation for the kettle as the dimension of ecumenism. He added:“The persecution does not know denominational barriers. Religious divisions do not define people fleeing or migrating in order to safeguard their own lives. They are defined by what they are: children of God.”
Oľga Hederová, Foreign Relations Dpt.; foreign@ecav.sk