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Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification as a great moment of the ecumenical movement. Bishop Wiesemann visited the Bishops of the United Methodist Church |
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| Release: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, Bonn, May 1, 2015 free translation |
"The agreement signed by the Lutheran World Federation, the Catholic and the Methodist Church, Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification 'is a unifying bond of Christian denominations".
This view has represented on 1 May 2015 Berlin Bishop Dr. Karl-Heinz Wiesemann (Speyer), Chairman of the Council of Christian Churches in Germany (ACK), in a welcoming address before the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church. The 100 bishops of the comprehensive 12 million members worldwide Methodist Church met until May 7, 2015 for the first time in Europe.
Bishop Wiesemann thanked on behalf of the ACK and the German Bishops' Conference at the United Methodist Church for the good ecumenical relations that they entertain the world. For over 40 years the Catholic Church lead the worldwide Methodist Church a fruitful dialogue, which have also led to the signing of adopted between Lutherans and Catholics in 1999 "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" of 2006. This was a "great moment of the ecumenical movement," said the bishop. He hoped that more churches could decide to sign the declaration, so that they will increasingly become a unifying bond between the Christian denominations.
The well-known in Germany under the name United Methodist Church Church was an important ecumenical partners from the very beginning, recalled Bishop Wiesemann. She was one of the five founding churches in 1948 launched ACK. On many levels, assume members of the United Methodist Church responsibility in the working group. Bishop Wiesemann thanked his board colleague Bishop Rosemarie Wenner and her predecessor retired Bishop Walter Klaiber explicitly ecumenical for their commitment and their contribution to ecumenism in Germany. Klaiber was 2001-2007 chairman of the ACK in Germany, Wenner's deputy since 2013 Chairperson of the ACK.
That the United Methodist Council of Bishops had chosen for his first time taking place in Europe session Berlin as the venue, was of enormous symbolic power, said Bishop Wiesemann. The city represents more than any other the power of reconciliation that have merged closer to the reign of terror of National Socialism and the churches. 70 years after the end of World War II and 25 years after reunification, Berlin stands symbolically for the different challenges that are also exposed to the churches in Germany. "The goal of the ecumenical movement is to the churches to unite in common witness and service," said Bishop Wiesemann. An opportunity for this witness to Jesus Christ is also the commemoration of 500 years Reformation in 2017. The commemoration is a great opportunity to strengthen the common commitment to Jesus Christ and the unifying basis of the Bible, and more awareness of the churches and society to back.