Pope Francis has been invited to
celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with the
German Lutheran Church.
Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chairperson of the Council of
the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), made the announcement
in a press conference after meeting the pope on Monday with a
ecumenical delegation that included Cardinal Reinhard Marx,
bishop of Munich and head of the German Episcopal Conference.
"The pope did not respond," Marx said, "but looked with
benevolence on the invitation. This is the first time that an
invitation is addressed to the pope by the Evangelical Church of
Germany, while I had previously invited him to come."
For the first time, the German Catholic Church will be
celebrating the anniversary of Luther's reform on this, its 500
anniversary, alongside the Lutheran and Evangelical Churches.
In October, Pope Francis took part in a joint commemoration
in Lund, Sweden.
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