Catholics, Lutherans look back, forward as dialogue ends one phase

Published: 2004-04-29

WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CNS) -- As Lutheran and Catholic scholars completed five years of work on a document about their churches' structures and ministries, they looked back on the 10 rounds of dialogue that began in 1965 and ahead in anticipation of the 11th topic for discussion. "In working toward church unity, the challenge is to find a common lens that bypasses old differences," Susan Wood, a dialogue participant and professor at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn., told the Catholic Herald, Milwaukee archdiocesan newspaper. "In the past, things have been seen through juridical eyes -- that didn't get us very far." The end of the 10th round of dialogue between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Roman Catholic Church was announced at Redemption Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa April 22. The dialogue is co-chaired by Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba of Milwaukee and retired Lutheran Bishop Charles Maahs.

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