News
“In this declaration you were able to overcome one of the central issues that led to the divisions between Protestants and Catholics at the time of the Reformation,” noted Pillay. “This was an inspiration to the entire Christian fellowship to work for the visible unity of all Christ’s followers."
Since the joint declaration was signed in 1999, it has been affirmed by the World Methodist Council, World Communion of Reformed Churches, and Anglican Communion.
“I remember how in the year of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches gathered in the historic town of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther lived and worked, to affirm the joint declaration, and to join with you in seeking to overcome the divisions of the past and to work with other Christian communions for unity and common witness,” recalled Pillay. “At that time, in 2017, as the president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, I played a great role in initiating and signing the Wittenberg Witness to visibly mark Christian unity in Wittenberg where the Christian church was divided 500 years earlier.”
Pillay concluded by recalling the declaration’s affirmation that it is God who forgives sin by grace and at the same time frees human beings from sin's enslaving power and imparts the gift of new life in Christ.
“May this gift of new life in Christ accompany us all in our pilgrimage together for justice, reconciliation, and unity,” he concluded.