Lutheran Federation apologizes to Anabaptists

STUTTGART, Germany – At the eleventh assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in August, delegates unanimously approved a statement asking forgiveness from Anabaptists (Mennonites) for “the harm that our forbears in the sixteenth century committed” in persecuting Anabaptists.

Since the Geneva-based LWF does not represent all Lutherans, the organization invited the International Lutheran Council (ILC) to participate in this action in late 2009, after the council had concluded its triennial meeting in Korea. The ILC comprises more than 30 Lutheran church bodies around the world, including Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC).

The ILC’s executive committee has placed the invitation to participate in the apology on its agenda for review and discussion at its October 2011 meeting. “We are not dismissing this action out of hand,” explained LCC president, Rev. Dr. Robert Bugbee who serves on the ILC committee. “We don’t meet as a council again until 2012, and the executive will give careful consideration to this invitation before presenting it to our member churches.”

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