Commemoration in Rome of 20th anniversary of Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

Twenty years ago, on 31 October 1999, on the anniversary of the Reformation, the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) in Augsburg, Germany.

With the JDDJ, Catholics and Lutherans were able to arrive at a differentiated consensus on the question that had so profoundly divided the Church of the West. On the basis of the consensus that was achieved, they were also able to clarify that their respective convictions expressed in the past were no longer valid.

This document united not only Catholics and Lutherans, but subsequently also Methodists, Reformed and Anglicans, whose world communions in the meantime have adhered to the joint declaration.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the JDDJ, Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Reformed and Anglicans around the world are gathering for shared prayer and commemoration of their baptism.

On Friday 22 November 2019 at 6.00 pm in the Abbey of Sant’Anselmo (Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta 5, 00153 Rome) an ecumenical prayer service will take place including a baptismal commemoration. The service will follow the order jointly established by the Lutheran World Federation and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.