Initial Meeting of the International Lutheran–Catholic Commission for Unity in Slovenia

From 2 to 8 February 2026, the first meeting of the Joint Commission for the sixth phase of the International Lutheran–Catholic Dialogue took place in Moravske Toplice (Slovenia).

The Joint Commission, chaired by Lutheran Bishop Patricia Lull (USA) and Catholic Bishop Raimo Goyarrola (Finland), comprises international theologians from the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Catholic Church. The co-secretaries are Prof. Dr Dirk Lange (LWF) and Fr Dr Augustinus Sander OSB (Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Vatican).

A first project will be a joint statement in view of the 500th anniversary of the Confessio Augustana in 2030.

The first meeting was hosted by the Lutheran congregation of Moravske Toplice, which belongs to the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovenia. As part of an excursion to Ljubljana, the group met with the Catholic Archbishop Stanislav Zore OFM and paid a courtesy visit to the President of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar.

_{Photo © Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovenia}