Following are briefs from Catholic News Service on Luther’s impact, and a message from the Pope to students.
Theologian: Luther’s post-Vatican II impact traceable to Middle Ages
WASHINGTON (CNS) — To understand Martin Luther’s impact on the Second Vatican Council and the era that has followed it, one must first understand the context of Luther’s break with the Church 500 years ago, according to German theologian Johanna Rahner. “Don’t skip the Middle Ages,” advised Rahner, a professor of systematic theology at Tubingen University in Germany, who holds the chair of dogmatics, history of dogma and ecumenical theology at the school. Three issues that arose during Luther’s time and were embraced by Luther and others of the era were what Rahner called “a turn toward a more inward, intensive form of piety,” the growing prominence of the notion of being saved through one’s faith, and a “growing discontent with the ways the Church acts as a spiritual mediator,” Rahner said. “You can imagine” how these issues put growing pressure on the Catholic Church of Luther’s time, she added. Rahner, who is a member of the Ecumenical Study Group of Protestant and Catholic Theologians, gave the final address of the May 30-June 1 “Luther and the Shaping of the Catholic Tradition” held at The Catholic University of America, Washington.
As school year ends, Pope tells students: Don’t fear goodbyes, unknown
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Life is a long series of hellos and goodbyes, so don’t be afraid to let go of the past; remember old friends, but keep moving and be open to the new, Pope Francis told students as the school year was coming to an end. “We have to learn to see life by seeing the horizons,” not the walls that can make people afraid because they don’t know what is on the other side, he told thousands of adolescents during a 45-minute encounter at the Vatican June 2. The middle-schoolers were part of Communion and Liberation’s “The Knights of the Grail” educational initiative. In the informal Q-and-A, a teen named Marta told the Pope how scared she was to be leaving middle school and most of her best friends as they head on to high school next year. “Why do I have to change everything? Why does growing up make me so afraid?” she asked him. “Life is a constant ‘Good morning’ and ‘Farewell,'” he said, with the goodbyes sometimes being for forever. “You grow by encountering and by taking your leave,” he said. “If you don’t learn to say goodbye well, you will never learn how to encounter new people.”