Aspects of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue on ministry

Abstract

This international conference has, so far, enabled us to listen to several learned contributions, yesterday evening and this morning. We started off with the historical contextualisation of the birth of the Reformation. Professor Dominic Fenech (1950–) masterfully presented, from a secular point of view, the socio-historical vicissitudes which frame the Reformation. This has been, what I deem to be, a very necessary starting-point. We then moved on, step by step, to tackle a variety of fundamental theological issues. This is essential if we have to make a proper evaluation of Martin Luther (1483–1546) and the Reformation. In this paper, I will first focus upon the question of ministry, as Luther understood this aspect of Church life, and, secondly, upon the contemporary situation regarding ministry within the context of Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue. The American Catholic theologian Avery Dulles (1918–2008), himself a former Presbyterian, explains that in the initial years after his split from Rome, Luther spoke aggressively against the Catholic teaching regarding ordination. In fact, Luther described the priesthood solely as a ministry of the word. It was like choosing an able and learned speaker to explain scriptural texts to the community of the faithful.