Reformed churches endorse Catholic-Lutheran accord on key Reformation dispute
Amid ceremonies marking this year’s 500th anniversary of the Reformation, one of Protestantism’s leading branches has officially said it now agrees with the Vatican on the main issue at the root of its split from the Roman Catholic Church half a millennium ago.
The World Communion of Reformed Churches, holding its worldwide General Council in Leipzig, Germany, signed a declaration in early July endorsing the 1999 Catholic-Lutheran agreement on how Christians might be worthy of salvation in the eyes of God.
The ceremony took place in nearby Wittenberg, where in 1517 Martin Luther unveiled the 95 Theses that launched the Reformation and with it centuries of dispute about whether eternal salvation comes from faith alone—the position of the new Protestant movement—or if it also requires good works as Catholics argued.
