The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you (2 Cor 13:13).

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I warmly welcome you, representatives of the Lutheran World Federation.  I extend a special greeting to the President of the Lutheran World Federation. Thank you for your kind words and for this your symbolic and beautiful gift.  I also greet the General Secretary, Reverend Burghardt, who is here.  I renew my gratitude for your presence at my inauguration last year.

I am pleased that the Lutheran-Catholic relations have matured both spiritually and theologically over the decades.  The international dialogue, now in its sixth phase, has yielded important insights.  A milestone in the ecumenical journey was certainly the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.  Yet the texts jointly developed in earlier years — above all The Eucharist, The Ministry in the Church, and Ways to Community — also deserve to be recalled and received ever more deeply.

Five years ago, in his address to the Lutheran World Federation during a private Audience, my predecessor Pope Francis beautifully described the significance of ecumenism: “Ecumenism is not an exercise of ecclesial diplomacy but a journey of grace.  It depends not on human negotiations and agreements, but on the grace of God, which purifies memories and hearts, overcomes attitudes of inflexibility and directs towards renewed communion” (Address to the Lutheran World Federation delegation, 25 June 2021).

Renewed communion in the apostolic faith, in the sacraments, and in the ministries is the goal of our ecumenical journey of grace, which we walk together guided by the Gospel.  On our common journey from conflict to communion, there are special moments.  As you have mentioned, the year 2030, which marks the 500^th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, can become one such shared moment: a profound ecumenical experience that can give new energy and joy to the steps we will take towards full, visible unity.

When the Confessio Augustana was read out in Augsburg on 25 June 1530, the unity of the Western Church was imperiled but not yet shattered.  The authors of the Augsburg Confession — as my predecessor Saint John Paul II put it — had the “intention of bearing witness to their faith in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church” (Address on the occasion of the 450^th anniversary of the Confessio Augustana, 25 June 1980). The Augsburg Confession was originally intended as a document of reconciliation within the Church. Only later did it come to be understood as a text of divisive confessionalization.

Looking  forward to 2030, it would be good if we could once again succeed in affirming together the pre-confessional ecumenical potential of the Confessio Augustana.  I earnestly appeal to all believers, and especially theologians, to set their minds on Christ and his Gospel.  Let us return, with deep devotion, to our common roots, to the faith of the early Church and the Church Fathers, in order to rediscover the apostolic and pre-confessional heritage which truly unites us as brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Christ must not become a “foreign word” in our world.  Our world needs ecumenical witnesses to Christ who make him known through their lives and actions, for Christ alone is the living source capable of fulfilling humanity’s deepest longings.

Dear brothers and sisters, united in this shared ecumenical and missionary task, I would like to thank you once again for your visit.  Let us renew our commitment to unity by praying together now as the Lord has taught us.

The Lord’s Prayer (recited together).