20th Anniversary of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

On the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Catholic-Lutheran Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification at Augsburg on 31 October 1999, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, and the Secretary General of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Reverend Martin Junge, addressed the Catholic Bishops' Conferences and the LWF Member Churches in a joint letter.

Through that letter they launch an invitation to celebrate the anniversary with an ecumenical prayer service. To this end, texts for a common liturgy (in English, French, German and Spanish) have been prepared. Since 1999, the Methodist, Anglican and Reformed Communions of the world have joined the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. It is hoped therefore that such celebrations will bring together Christians from all these Communions.