What kind of world is it when this can even be considered or thought of?
Somebody apparently thought that the CATHOLIC CHURCH should celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. I assume somebody else brought it up because I certainly can't think of any other reason why Cardinal Koch would bother making a statement about it:
There is no reason to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, in 2017, in the opinion of the "ecumenical cardinal" of the Vatican, Kurt Koch. He pleads for, not an anniversary, but a "reformation memorial", said the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity on Tuesday night (04/24/2012) in Vienna: "We cannot celebrate a sin." On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther published 95 theses on the state of the Church, which started the Reformation and led to the secession of the Protestant churches.
How about next year we do a 450th anniversary celebration of the final session of Trent instead? I think that's a capital idea for a couple of reasons. First, this year is the 50th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II. Remembering that Trent is still very much a source of dogma, while VII is not, would probably be a good exercise for everyone. Second, it would probably be fun to see the media reaction at the Holy See celebrating an event that the secular world holds in such contempt. You can pretty much bet that, whatever "memorial" gets put together for the Reformation, we'll be treated to an over-emphasis (by the Catholic participants!) on Catholic corruption and Luther's "genius," rather than the sin that Cardinal Koch mentions.
Oh yes. According to the Bishop of Groningen (NL), we're all brothers and sisters in the Lord, with just a few theological and cultural differences. So he's planning to provide the Catholic presence at the Protestants' remembrance activities (they don't call it a "celebration", though).
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