There is no going back on the road to unity he assured the delegation Catholics and evangelicals must “continue to witness together to the Gospel and to continue on the road to full unity.” “We have the same baptism: We must walk together, without growing tired,” Francis said. He encouraged evangelicals and Catholics, when considering an ecumenical initiative, to ask themselves: “Can we share it with our brothers and sisters in Christ? Can we do another stretch of the road together? Greeting the German delegation in his private library, Francis sought to give new impetus to the effort toward Christian unity. Pope Francis has already participated in a joint Catholic-Lutheran commemoration of the Reformation in Lund, Sweden, in October last year, but this invitation is even more significant. He underlined the historical significance of this invitation and expressed the fervent hope that the pope could respond to it. “Pope Francis, you have struck a new chord of goodness and mercy for all people” and “as sisters and brothers in Christ we are grateful for the clear orientation you give,” Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, the chairperson of the Council of the Evangelical Church (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated E.K.D.) in Germany told the pope before issuing the invitation.Ĭardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference, accompanied the delegation. 6 as part of the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of that event. An ecumenical delegation from Germany visited Pope Francis in the Vatican on Feb. For the first time since the Reformation, the Evangelical Church in Germany, which represents the vast majority of Protestants in that country, has invited the pope to visit their homeland, the nation where the Reformation began.

Invitation to visit our church