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Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation

• The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
  (Lutheran World Federation and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, final draft: 1997, signed: October 31, 1999)
  • Official Common Statement by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church (October 31, 1999)
  • Annex to the Official Common Statement (October 31, 1999)
• Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation (1998)
  In the weeks following the official response of the Lutheran World Federation there was some dispute over the status of the Roman Catholic response. Media reports indicated that the Pontifical Council was at odds with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and its prefect Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The official documentation is indicated below.
  • Official Roman Catholic response (June 25, 1998)
  • Presentation of the Roman Catholic Response
    by His Eminence Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy (June 25, 1998)
• Statement of the Johann-Adam Moehler Institute for Ecumenics on the Joint Declaration (September 1999)
• The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in Confessional Lutheran Perspective (pdf)
  A statement by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, an American Lutheran church that is not a member of the Lutheran World Federation, and thus not a party to the Joint Declaration. This document is critical of the dialogue. [cached copy, pdf]
• The Implications of Justification in the World's Contexts
  Statement by a consultation of Lutheran theologians convened by the Lutheran World Federation, October 31, 1998.
• Luther's theology as an antidote to American moralism and its influence on liberation theology 
  Comments made in a discussion on the Lutheran World Federation website in response to an invitation to reflect on the relevance of the doctrine of justification today.

U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue

• Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue I, II, and III:
  • The Status of the Nicene Creed as Dogma of the Church (1965)
  • One Baptism for the Remission of Sins (1966)
  • The Eucharist as Sacrifice (1968)
• Eucharist & Ministry: Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue IV (Round IV, 1970)
• Papal Primacy and the Universal Church: Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue V (Round V, 1973)
• Teaching Authority & Infallibility in the Church: Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue VI (Round VI, 1978)
• Justification by Faith: Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue VII (Round VII, 1983)
• The One Mediator, the Saints, and Mary: Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue VIII (Round VIII, 1990)
• Scripture and Tradition: Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue IX (Round IX, 1995)
• The Church as Koinonia of Salvation: Its Structures and Ministries. (Round X, 2004, available in HTML & PDF)
  [from the preface] "We are united as Christians in our common baptism, common affirmation of Scripture and common life in Christ; as Lutherans and Catholics by our common commitment to the goal of full communion, our common affirmation of justification, and our common understanding that more agreement is necessary before full, sacramental communion can be restored. In this text we recognize the importance of our agreement, propose new stages of agreement, and celebrate the gifts we can receive from one another in our practice and understandings of ministries and structures within the Church as community of salvation.
  This dialogue also recognizes that we are not proposing to settle all of the church-dividing issues before us. We have not attempted to resolve the important ecclesiological issues of the ordination of women or the authority by which such a decision is made, nor the full meaning of apostolic succession in ordained ministry and how we might be reconciled. We have not addressed the level of communion in ministries and structures that would be necessary for even interim Eucharistic communion. We are, however, convinced that the clarifications and research represented by this text make an important contribution in the stages toward reconciling these and other elements along the path toward full communion."