First meeting of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) Working Group

26 Oct 2026

The Working Group on the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) held its first meeting at the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France, from 21 to 25 October 2026. It brings together two theologians from each of the five Christian Communions that have affirmed the Declaration: Catholic and Lutheran, the original signatories, and Methodist, Anglican and Reformed, which subsequently associated with it. The group seeks to deepen the reception of the JDDJ and explore its implications for Christian unity.

The JDDJ Steering Team agreed to establish the Working Group during its meeting on the margins of the Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions in Nairobi in November 2024. Its initial mandate is to study justification and baptism, particularly their implications for ecclesiology and sacramentality. It will function as an informal theological study group, maintaining contact with the participating Communions through their ecumenical offices.

Participants reviewed the reception of the Joint Declaration since its signing in 1999 and the significance of its subsequent affirmation by three further Communions. Particular attention was given to the Notre Dame Consultation Statement of March 2019, which encouraged deeper relationships and stronger common witness to God’s saving grace. Two participants who had attended that consultation shared their recollections and reflections.

Discussions focused on developing a multilateral approach drawing upon the achievements of bilateral dialogues. Participants considered how differentiated consensus, which recognises agreement in fundamental truths while respecting distinct theological expressions, could guide their common reflection. Baptism was identified as a fruitful area for exploring the relationship between grace, faith, salvation and incorporation into the Church, and for discerning how the unity already shared in Christ might find fuller expression.

The Catholic members of the Working Group are Professor Annemarie C. Mayer, of the Faculty of Theology in Trier, and Father Dr Leo Laurence Maria Joseph, Assistant General of the Missionaries of Africa. Monsignor Andrzej Choromanski, who has represented the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity in the JDDJ process in previous years, also attended.