Cardinal Kurt Koch © KNA
The president of the Pontifical Unity Council, Cardinal Kurt Koch, considers the disagreement between the Catholic and Protestant churches on some bioethical and moral-theological ies to be dangerous.
"If the Christian churches in Europe cannot speak with one voice on the central ies of life, the Christian voice will become weaker and weaker," Koch said in a joint interview in the current ies of the Austrian church newspapers.
Intensify dialog
Therefore, it is necessary to intensify the dialogue with the Protestant Church about different points of view on these important ies, said the Cardinal of the Curia. There are different positions on ies such as the protection of life, family, marriage, sexuality and, above all, in the context of the gender debate.
Differences in the ethical field
The ecumenical exchange on questions of faith had been strengthened in recent years, "but in the ethical field, new differences had arisen.". Even in theology, however, there are still "construction sites" – for example, in the understanding of church and ministry, but also in the Eucharist. A joint declaration should be sought here, similar to what was done in 1999 on the question of the doctrine of justification. From the cardinal's point of view, local efforts in the U.S. and Finland could be a model for this.
The decisive factor in all discussions is "that the theological dialogs are not so detached that one has the impression that they are only about academic quibbles," Koch emphasized. Agreements would only be fruitful "if they are accepted by church leaders and by the faithful". In this respect, he said, any consensus in ecumenism depends on being accepted.