CNA Staff, Jan 28, 2021 / 06:30 am
A Vatican cardinal has expressed "astonishment" at a statement by a group of Protestant and Catholic theologians in Germany.
Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, made the comment in response to a declaration by the Ecumenical Study Group of Protestant and Catholic Theologians (known by its German acronym, ÖAK).
The ÖAK published the 26-page statement on Jan. 24 in response to a critical assessment of the group's proposal for a "reciprocal Eucharistic hospitality" between Catholics and Protestants by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
Koch told CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner, that he was surprised by the tone and choice of words in the statement, as well as its content and timing.