Magnus Aronson /Ikon
Salvadoran Cross 2018
The Salvadoran cross will be placed in the chapel of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva. Photo: Lutheran World Federation
17 January 2018
The Salvadoran Cross created for the joint Catholic-Lutheran Commemoration of the Reformation in Lund 2016 will be permanently placed in the chapel of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, this Thursday. The cross will be dedicated during a service on the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on Jan. 18, 2018.
At the consecration service, the Catholic Church will be represented by His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian United. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) will be represented by general secretary Rev. Dr. Martin Junge and the World Council of Churches by general secretary Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit. Cardinal Koch and Rev. Dr. Kaisamari Hintikka will preach together.
On Oct. 31, 2016, The Lutheran World Federation President and General Secretary jointly with Pope Francis led a service to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in the Lund Cathedral, Sweden. The service was marked as a milestone in the history of Lutheran-Catholic relations and in the ecumenical movement.
The cross for this service was created by the artist Christian Chavarria Ayala, a Lutheran from El Salvador. In colorful Salvadoran style, it shows Jesus sharing a meal of bread and wine with people from all nations, a baptismal font and a vineyard with grapes referring to John 15:1-5: “Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches”. The Bible verse was a scripture reading for the service.
“In gratitude for the Lutheran and Catholic Joint Commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in Lund, Sweden, we commend this Lund Cross to the Chapel of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva. May it be a sign of the hope that we share, as we leave behind our conflict, and turns towards our common future,” Dr. Junge of the Lutheran World Federation.
The service starts at 8.30 am MET. It will be livestreamed on www.facebook.com/lutheranworld