A report submitted to the EKD (Evangelical Church in Germany) and the VELKD (United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany) on ecumenical developments and related perspectives reveals a more or less successful charade that, in reality, no longer needs to be taken seriously. The gist of the report is that the Church of Rome has changed in such a way, and that this trend was furthered by Pope Leo XIV, that one can now discern “astonishing” agreements with the social ethics of the Protestant Church.
Inhalt / Content
They are showing a genuine effort.
Approaching ecumenism with cautious optimism. Bishop Christian Kopp, the ecumenical officer of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), presented the “Catholic and Ecumenical Report” internally to the EKD and its affiliated organization, the VELKD (United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany), a worldwide denomination based on Martin Luther’s “Small Catechism” (1529). The VELKD has committed itself to participating in the ecumenical work of “all Christendom.” As circumstances conveniently dictate, Bishop Kopp also serves as the VELKD’s Catholic officer.
The report now presented focuses on the new pontificate of Pope Leo XIV. According to the report, the priorities set by the new head of the Roman Catholic Church are “peace, synodality, and responsibility for creation” (Source: [PDF link]). These priorities are significant for ecumenism. Kopp sees the papacy as an opportunity “as a service of unity.”
Fighting poverty – For justice
Pope Leo XIV, with his first Apostolic Exhortation “Dilexi te,” published a literal declaration of love for the poor. For Leo, this represented a “spiritual and social renewal of the Church,” according to the regional bishop. This, he says, shows “remarkable agreement with the socio-ethical positions of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).”
Published by Pope Francis in 2015, the environmental encyclical “Laudao Si'” has since permeated every nook and cranny of business, churches, and politics. Kopp is clearly moved by this document, as it emphasizes the connection between “climate justice and social justice” and grants nature the privilege of appropriate treatment. “Priority for creation.”
Something Jesus
The 2025 report even mentions Jesus Christ. According to the report, Pope Francis, like Leo XIV, considered Jesus Christ “their Lord,” the model for the necessary renewal of the Church in order to provide the necessary impetus for societal development toward greater justice. Furthermore, Jesus is our hope, which the Roman Catholic Church expresses through prayer, the Eucharist, confession, and charity in friendship with Christ. “Because we are freed by the grace of God, we are called to protect and preserve human dignity and creation,” the report states. The churches must be equipped for this.
“Caring for the environment is one of the central aspects of following Jesus,” states another passage in the 28-page report that mentions Jesus Christ.
What’s the point of all this?
In light of the positions put forward by Bishop Kopp, one can’t help but wonder what is actually preventing the Roman Catholic Eucharist from already being celebrated with the presence of Lutheran pastors. One can easily imagine that Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, the former Bishop of Bavaria and still active as Chairman of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, is already restlessly pacing back and forth in his retirement home somewhere in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, since, according to a career-enhancing self-advice, he simply cannot wait for the joint Eucharist. (Info).
It is a true tragedy in the truest sense of the word. Over the past decades, the EKD has absorbed the doctrine of Roman Catholic social teaching within the framework of ecumenism, and in 1999, it has “passed by” the unspeakable joint declaration on justification, thus finally burying official Protestantism on October 31, 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (Info). Now, in 2025, it is “astonished” to discover that the “purified” Church of Rome actually agrees with the ethical values of the EKD.
An embarrassing spectacle that merely suggests further obstacles within the “reconciled diversity.” Thus, as is also common in the political arena, a spectacle of struggle for one’s own position is staged, which then, after bloody and sweaty verbal battles, ultimately leads to a compromise satisfactory to all. The goal targeted from the outset is achieved, the masses, squinting like owls in spotlights, are led around the ring by the nose, and everyone is happy (a principle according to Hegel).
Gospel? Oh, come on!
The teachings of Jesus Christ, completely taken out of their true context, alone testify to the actual disinterest in the written word. Humanism is their agenda, and for this purpose, bending and distorting the true message of salvation in the Word of God is perfectly acceptable. The name of Jesus Christ is simply misused, nothing more, but certainly nothing less either.
To place creation above humanity (“priority”) bears the hallmarks of diabolical reversal. Moreover, the Gospel describes in minute detail how dire the situation is for this present, already utterly degenerate creation. It will be completely destroyed in order to finally create a new heaven and a new earth after purification (Revelation 18 to 21). Everything new, everything pure; sin will then no longer exist in the entire universe, and with it, those who clung to their sin until the “bitter end,” indeed, who practically clung to it and even preached it.
The intended goal is visible.
Some Gospels on the use of useful keywords, Catholic ethics according to Hellenistic natural law (Info), and now also the elevation of creation above man, or the subjugation of man to the environment.
All of this culminates with sleepwalker-like certainty in the worship (in some form) of creation, but not of the true Creator (Romans 1). The aspects of Theosophy, a synthesis of Gospel and Humanism. The teachings of the great adversary (Info).
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Romans 1:24-25
Bible verses from King James Version (1611)
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