ENI—An international expert on church unity has urged the Roman Catholic Church to declare that its excommunication of Martin Luther no longer applies.
“Luther, a major symbol and personification during 400 years of the past Catholic-Lutheran conflict and division, is now seen as a common teacher,” said Rev. Günther Gassmann, a German Lutheran theologian, who directed the World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission from 1984 to 1995.
Born in 1483, Luther trained as a Catholic monk, but was excommunicated in 1521 after refusing to retract teachings the church judged to be heretical.
