Seoul, South Korea, Jul 24, 2006 / 22:00 pm
In a historic step on the road toward Christian unity, the World Methodist Conference adopted the Catholic-Lutheran joint declaration on justification July 23. The declaration had been previously approved by the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation in 1999.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, called the signing in Seoul, South Korea, “historic” and “a gift of God.”
The agreement on justification, which explains how people are made just in the eyes of God and saved by Jesus Christ, "provides a basis for a more profound common witness before the world," the cardinal reportedly said at the signing.
Two representatives from each of the three church bodies signed the agreement.