To the Council of the Evangelical Church (17 November 1980)

On Monday, 17 November 1980, the Holy Father addressed the Council of the Evangelical Church (Lutheran) in the Mainz Cathedral Museum, to whom he observed that "there is no true ecumenism without inner conversion."

Dear Council President,
honored members of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany,
dear fellow Christians!

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!". With these words from the Apostle of the Nations, I greet you and everyone who represents you. I sincerely thank everyone who made this encounter possible in the country where the Reformation began.

I owe you a special thank you, Mr. In the knowledge of these circumstances we can hope - like Paul once did - that we "receive encouragement together".

Our being together in this morning hour is a profound symbol for me, so that I would like to speak with the words of an old hymn: "The dawn rises higher already, like dawn he rises for us; in his father completely the son and completely the father in the word". It is our common wish that Christ may shine in our midst and in this country as the light of life and truth.

In this hour I remember that Martin Luther came to the tombs of the Princes of the Apostles in Rome in 1510-11 as a pilgrim, but also as a seeker and questioner. Today I come to you, spiritual heirs of Martin Luther; I come as a pilgrim. I come to set a sign of solidarity in the central mysteries of our faith with this encounter in a changed world.

Many things come to mind in our fraternal encounter, much more than we can say in the short time and with our limited resources. At the beginning of our conversation, allow me to express what particularly moves me. I do so in connection with the testimony of Romans, that writing which was absolutely decisive for Martin Luther. "This epistle is the true main part of the New Testament and the purest gospel," he wrote in 1522.

In the school of the Apostle of the Gentiles we can become aware that we all need conversion. There is no Christian life without repentance. "There is no genuine ecumenism without inner conversion". "We don't want to judge each other". But we want to admit our guilt to each other. Also with regard to the grace of unity: "All have sinned". We have to see and say that in all seriousness and draw our conclusions from it. What is more important is that we recognize more and more deeply what consequences the Lord draws from human failure. Paul sums it up: "Where sin abounded, grace abounded".

God does not stop "having mercy on all". He gives his Son, he gives himself, he gives forgiveness, justification, grace, eternal life. Together we can confess this.
You know that decades of my life have been shaped by experiences of Christianity's challenges from atheism and unbelief. It is all the more clear to me what our common commitment to Jesus Christ, his word and work in this world means and how the command of the hour is urging us to overcome our still church-dividing differences and to bear witness to our growing unity.

Jesus Christ is the salvation of all of us. He is the one mediator. "God appointed him to make atonement with his blood, atonement effectual through faith." Through him we have "peace with God" and with one another. By the power of the Holy Spirit we become his brothers and sisters, truly and essentially children of God. "If we are all children, then also heirs; we are heirs of God and are joint heirs with Christ".

The fact that we believe and confess this together has become anew in reflecting on the Confessio Augustana and in numerous contacts. The German bishops bore witness to this in their pastoral message "Thy kingdom come" (January 20, 1980). They said to the Catholic faithful: “Let us rejoice that we can discover not only a partial consensus on some truths, but an agreement on central basic truths. This allows us to hope for unity also in those areas of our faith and life in which we are still divided up to now".

All gratitude for what remains and connects us must not blind us to what still separates us. We must consider it together as much as possible, not to deepen rifts, but to bridge them. We must not leave it at the statement: "Therefore we are and remain eternally divorced and opposed to one another".

Together we are called to strive for full unity in faith in the dialogue of truth and love. Only full unity gives us the opportunity to gather of one mind and one faith at the one table of the Lord. We can learn from Luther's Romans lectures of 1516-1517 what this effort is all about. He teaches that "faith in Christ, by which we are justified, consists not only in believing in Christ, or more precisely in the person of Christ, but in what Christ is." "We must believe in him and in what is his". To the question: "What is this?" Luther refers to the church and its authentic proclamation. If in the things that stand between us could only be about the "ecclesiastical ordinances instituted by people", the difficulties would have to be cleared up soon. According to Catholic belief, dissent concerns "what is Christ's," "what is His"; his church and its mission, its message and its sacraments, as well as the ministries that are placed at the service of word and sacrament. The dialogue that has been going on since the Council has taken us a good deal further in this regard. A number of important steps have been taken in Germany in particular. This can give us confidence in view of the problems that have not yet been resolved. their message and their sacraments as well as the ministries that are placed at the service of word and sacrament. The dialogue that has been going on since the Council has taken us a good deal further in this regard. A number of important steps have been taken in Germany in particular. This can give us confidence in view of the problems that have not yet been resolved. their message and their sacraments as well as the ministries that are placed at the service of word and sacrament. The dialogue that has been going on since the Council has taken us a good deal further in this regard. A number of important steps have been taken in Germany in particular. This can give us confidence in view of the problems that have not yet been resolved.

We need to stay in touch and talk. The questions that we have to address together, by their very nature, call for a more comprehensive treatment than is possible here and now. I hope that together we can find ways to continue our conversation. Certainly the German bishops and the staff of the Secretariat for Christian Unity will help.

We must leave no stone unturned. We must do what unites. We owe it to God and the world.

"Let us strive for what serves peace and construction!". Each of us must say to ourselves with Paul: "Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel". We are called to be witnesses of the gospel, witnesses of Christ. His message is that we bear witness together. Let me repeat what I said on June 25th of this year on the occasion of the Confessio Augustana Jubilee: "The will of Christ and the signs of the times impel us to witness together in an increasing fullness of truth and love".

The tasks ahead of us are great and difficult. If we were dependent on our strength alone, we would have to despair. Thank God "the spirit of our weakness helps". Trusting in him we can continue our conversation, we can take action that is required of us. Let's start with the most important conversation, with the most necessary action, let's pray! In the face of the incomprehensible grace of God we pray with the Apostle of the Gentiles:

"O depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his decisions, how inscrutable are his ways! For who has known the thoughts of the Lord?

Or who was his advisor? Who gave him something so that God would have to give him something in return? For out of him and through him and towards him is all creation. Glory be to him forever! Amen".

© Copyright 1980 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana