Lutherans and Orthodox celebrate 40 years of dialogue

LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations, Prof. Dr Dirk Lange said: “The discussion was very constructive and the conversation very engaging. It was a joy to experience the commitment and the honest searching of all members of the Commission. The two co-chairs, His Eminence Kyrillos of Kirini and Regional Bishop Johann Schneider facilitated a very focused and lively meeting.” 

During the meeting, messages were received from the Ecumenical Patriarch Barthlomew I and from LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt, celebrating the progress of Lutheran-Orthodox theological dialogues which began over 40 years ago. The encounter included a Service of the Word at the Castle Church in Wittenberg and a Lutheran Eucharist celebrated at Naumburg Cathedral. 

Epiclesis, the invocation or calling down of the Holy Spirit over bread and wine and over the gathered assembly during the Eucharistic Prayer, was the focal point of much discussion and it is central to Orthodox liturgical and ecclesial understanding. Martin Luther included a form of it in his German Mass, but because it did not exist in the Catholic Mass of Luther’s Day, it was not highlighted. Over the past 100 years, the Epiclesis has found its place again in many Protestant liturgies, notably through liturgical renewal in the mid-20th century in North America and in Sweden.  

Seeking convergence to heal deep divisions 

Participants also engaged in “lively discussion” around the key issue of the ‘Filioque’ clause. This debate was originally occasioned by the addition of the phrase “and from the Son” into the Nicene Creed in the late 6th century by the Latin or western Church, but the phrase has caused deep division between Eastern and Western Christianity.  

Commission members explored the “differing theological frameworks, liturgical consequences, and possible convergences,” agreeing to pursue “a lengthier study process with pastoral implications” at their next meeting. The LWF has already recommended that the Filioque clause be omitted during ecumenical worship services. This was the case when Prof. Lange presided at the Lutheran liturgy in Naumburg Cathedral.  

The next preparatory session of the Commission will be hosted by the LWF from 6 to 19 November in the Estonian capital, Tallinn.