THE JOINT DECLARATION ON THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION
FROM A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE

Krakow, 19 September 2023

As a brief introduction to the ecumenical conversation that follows, I will focus my reflections on three perspectives: 

1. The doctrine on the justification of the sinner by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ is what Martin Luther called that article in which "nothing can be conceded or given up, even if heaven and earth fall or whatever is transitory passed away" (Smalcald Articles, 2nd part, art. 1).

The disputes over this doctrine found expression both in the Lutheran Confessions and in the decrees of the Council of Trent in mutual doctrinal condemnations which have had a binding force and thus also a church-dividing effect right up to the present day. However, with the Joint Declaration on Fundamental Questions of the Doctrine of Justification in Augsburg in 1999, a far-reaching consensus, which is no longer affected by the Lutheran and Catholic doctrinal condemnations, was found on this central doctrine of faith, which formed the core of theological controversies in the 16th century and became one of the main reasons for the division in the Church in the West. This can be considered an important milestone in the dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans and in the broader ecumenical movement, for which I am very grateful.

The term "justification" has become, or possibly always was foreign in today's awareness of faith [Glaubensbewusstsein], not only in the Catholic Church. Nonetheless, the message of what was expressed has not only not lost its relevance, but has become increasingly urgent. For the message that the human being does not have to create his own dignity and identity, nor can he do so, but that it is given to him by God in grace, as the "apple of his eye", is liberating information for today's largely merciless society. The question of how God's grace and the free will of the human being go together is a question that the Catholic Church still accentuates differently today. However, when I observe the theological discussions in the Reformation communities, for example on topics such as justification and justice and justification and sanctification, I have to conclude that these communities are also asking this question more openly today.

2 The Joint Declaration on Fundamental Questions concerning the Doctrine of Justification is also of ongoing importance for me because it shows the intimacy between the restoration of the unity of the Church and the truth of the faith. And the ecumenical effort to restore must be dedicated to the unity of the Church as that community which lives in fidelity to the Gospel and the apostolic faith. Ecumenism is a profound matter of faith and should not be interpreted as a political problem that can be resolved through compromise. Ultimately, the unity of the Church can never be anything other than unity in the apostolic faith, specifically in the faith that each individual is baptized into and which is given and entrusted to every new member of the Body of Christ in baptism.

3 This brings me to the third perspective: "Justification" is first and foremost not a doctrine but an event, more precisely, an event of salvation. For justification takes place in the sacrament of baptism. If the decisive salvific event is sacramentally mediated, then the category of sacramentality cannot continue to stand between us, and even more so, theological consensus should also be possible. Only when based on this depth of faith are baptism and its mutual recognition the lasting foundation of ecumenical endeavours. Christian ecumenism is always baptismal ecumenism.

By considering these three perspectives, we will be able to move towards a positive future in dialogue with the Lutheran World Federation and with all the churches and communions that have emerged from the Reformation.