Greeting from the DPCU to the Council Meeting of the Lutheran World Federation

18 Jun 2026

From 11 to 15 June 2026, the Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) met in Founex, near Geneva.

Father Dr Augustinus Sander OSB, staff member of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (DPCU) responsible for relations with Lutherans, sent a written message to the assembly, which had gathered under the theme ‘Be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith’ (Rom 1:12). Due to the limited time available, the LWF had decided that greetings from ecumenical partners would be conveyed in writing rather than delivered in person.

Father Augustinus gratefully recalled the opening session of the Joint Commission of the Sixth Phase of the International Catholic–Lutheran Dialogue, which took place in February 2026 in Moravske Toplice, Slovenia, and emphasised: “With a view to the 500th anniversary of the Confessio Augustana in 2030, we are confident that it will be possible to offer a word of mutually shared faith.”

At the same time, he expressed his delight that representatives of the LWF will be received by Pope Leo XIV in a private audience in October 2026: “That Pope Leo XIV, as an Augustinian, belongs to the same order as Martin Luther once did, and that in his addresses he repeatedly refers to Saint Augustine—a Church Father whom Luther greatly esteemed throughout his life—is an encouraging ecumenical sign.”

The 48 members of the Council represent the seven regions of the LWF, a worldwide ‘communion of churches’.