Hundreds Attend 'Joint Declaration on the Doctrine on Justification' Seminar

By Pauline J. Chang

Hundreds of Lutherans and Catholics gathered in South Africa to celebrate the 5-year anniversary of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine on Justification (JDDJ), Oct. 30, 2004. The JDDJ, which confirmed that the world¯s two largest Church groups reached a consensus on the basic truths regarding justification, is widely known as one of the °boldest ecumenical developments in modern church history.±

Present at the seminar was the Rev. Ishmael Noko, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, and Walter Cardinal Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The seminar was part of the celebration marking the anniversary of the JDDJ signing that took place on Oct. 31, 1999, in Augsburg Germany.

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