Dialogue Resource
Speech at Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Assembly by Bishop Madden (2013)
ORIGINS article, August 2013: Speech at Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Assembly by Bishops Denis J. Madden, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore.
Citing the words of Pope Francis, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs called for a "culture of encounter" among Catholics and Lutherans during the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's churchwide assembly in Pittsburgh. Auxiliary Bishop Denis J. Madden of Baltimore told the assembly Aug. 13 that the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 offers an opportunity to "point the way toward Christian unity" rather than focusing on what keeps the two faith communities divided. "Let the 500th anniversary of the Reformation be not a celebration of our historical and doctrinal divisions but a celebration of our dialogue even within our differences, of our unity, our mutual respect and love for each other," Bishop Madden said. The bishop pointed to the positive relations and greater under standing that have resulted from the ongoing dialogue between U.S. Catholic and Lutheran leaders that began in 1965.