“Dialogue pays off, differences can be overcome”
Dr. Martin Junge, General Secretary of the LWF, was honoured with the Augsburg “Peace Prize 2017” on 20 October in Augsburg, Germany. During the prize ceremony, which took place in the festive hall of the town hall, General Secretary Junge addressed those present, emphasising the peace-loving nature of religions and condemning the use of faith as an instrument for any kind of [evil purpose].
Paying tribute, Cesar Garcia, General Secretary of the Mennonite World Conference, praised Junge for the fact that he “does not stand aside, but actively encourages reconciliation.” He has truly earned this recognition, Garcia explained, and in his view Junge’s tireless work in interconfessional reconciliation must be seen from the perspectives of both justice and peace. Dr. Kurt Gribl, Mayor of Augsburg, presented Martin Junge with the prize, a sculpture called “Paxible.”
In response, Junge said: “Religious communities, including Christian ones, must be vigilant and recognise when their potential is being mobilised for division instead of fundamentally striving for peacebuilding. I believe that, as leaders of our confessions, our fundamental task is to take responsibility so that the negative potential of religions does not develop and is not introduced by means of politics.”
Signs of peace in a world made of opposites
The General Secretary of the LWF noted that, since the 1555 treaty known as the Peace of Augsburg, the city of Augsburg has striven to achieve peace between Roman Catholics and Lutherans. At the same time, he added, this date reminds us of the confessional wars and of the violence possible within Christianity. The Joint Catholic and Lutheran Commemoration in Lund on 31 October 2016 gave a clear message that “dialogue pays off, that differences can be overcome.” Churches too should stand against the current developments in society with a message [of peace], he continued. “One can observe a decline in understanding that threatens communities, including national communities, and even threatens them with division.”
Service in worship and in society go together
The Chilean theologian gives us pause to consider that the church does not end with itself. “Service in worship and service in society are of equal importance,” Junge noted. The Lutheran World Federation is one of the largest Protestant organisations providing aid in emergency situations and in development. Paying tribute to refugee movements around the world, he reminded us that caring for one’s neighbour who is suffering is an inseparable part of Christian identity. “Those who claim that Europe must close its borders in order to preserve Christian identity do not understand the meaning of the Christian faith at all.”
A Mennonite delivers a speech of praise
Cesar Garcia noted the uniqueness of this occasion, in which he, as a Mennonite, was now able to deliver a speech of praise: “Centuries ago it would have been unthinkable for an Anabaptist, a Mennonite leader, to address a Lutheran leader with honour in this city. The years of confessional violence, the time of martyrdom and persecution, are over, because a miracle of reconciliation took place, in which Martin Junge himself played a great part.” He referred to the Eleventh Assembly of the LWF in 2010 in Stuttgart, Germany. In a historic plea for reconciliation, the LWF asked the Mennonites for forgiveness for the suffering and wrongs done to them because of their faith. Soon afterwards the LWF, the Mennonites and the Roman Catholic Church began the trilateral talks on the understanding of baptism, which are still ongoing
The Augsburg Peace Festival
The Augsburg Peace Festival has been celebrated since 8 August 1650. Every three years since 1985, a prize has been awarded at the Augsburg Peace Festival “for special merits concerning interconfessional understanding,” and it is awarded by the city of Augsburg and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. The chair of the jury is regional bishop Michael Grabow. Previous prizes were awarded to Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria and Richard von Weizsacker. The prize fund is EUR 12,500. Before the prize ceremony, the General Secretary of the LWF took part with a sermon in an ecumenical worship service at St Anne’s Church in Augsburg. There Junge joined the head of the ecumenism department of the Bavarian church, OKR (Church Council member) Michael Martin, in a dialogue-style sermon.
Source: Lutheran World Federation news