The forward press-release has been delivered by the Secretary General of the AIDLR during the event organized on Tuesday 17th of October at the European Parliament in Brussels by MEP HANNU TAKULA and with the participation of European Parliament politicians MEP CSABA SOGOR, MEP AJOJZ PETERLE, MEP ARNE LIETZ, MEP MAIREAD MCGUINESS, MEP CECILIA WIKSTROM, MEP PETER VAN DALEN, of religious leaders: Bishop SIMO PEURA, Pastor KATTY OLDENDOORFF, the Rector of the Finnish Seamen’s Mission’s everyday life, Father HEIKKI HUTTUNEN- Secretary General of the Conference of European Churches, Pastor RAAFAT KAMAL, President of the Trans-European Division (TED) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Pastor KATRIN HATZINGER, director of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) office in Brussels, and professors ANDREAS BECK, Utrech University and DEZSO BUZOGANY, from Reformed Theological Faculty University of Cluj, and many others.
The panels of the Conference focused on “The societal significance of Luther’s emphasis on grace”, “The reformation legacy as shaper of the EU in past, present and future” and, “The EU and church dialogue”.
Father Heikki Huttunen debated on “practical role and influence of religion and religious people to our society”, and professor Dezso Buzogany talked on “Luther as an instrument in the hand of God”, “the historical “changes were made by the word of God and by power of God that put the Bible in the hand of people”.
Cecilia Wilkstrom underlined: Luther legacy has been a positive”. On the Reformation legacy, the Secretary General of the AIDLR contributed at the debate looking from the perspective of German professor Heinz Schilling, author of the excellent book published recently on “Martin Luther, Rebel in an Age of Upheavel” and focusing on “the importance of qualitative renewal of religion to our society, today” at the beginning of the 21st Century.
Dr. LIVIU OLTEANU underlined: if we look today to the impact of the Reformation as a shaper the EU present and future, first of all, we have to start not forgetting the lessons of the history, the big picture of the past that opened doors of light and hope for future generations. Against his will, Luther assisted at the birth of the pluralistic and liberal modern; indirectly and involuntarily, he contributed to the emergence of modern tolerance, pluralism and liberalism, in favor of religious freedom, and even more to the economics of modern society. “His deliberate personal legacy to modern age, lies elsewhere in the rediscovery of religion and faith as elemental forces for the individual and for society”.
In the context of this topic, Professor HEINZ SCHILLING wrote and the Secretary General of the AIDLR quoted him: “As a result of the Protestantism Reformation and the reformation of papal church, for which Luther had provided the impetus, religion influenced the society, culture and politics of the modern age and was therefore able to play a decisive part in the radical transition that produced the European modernity”.
One of the statement expressed by the Pastor RAAFAT KAMAL in an enthusiastic, attractive and concise way, on “Reformation Unending”, stressed on the Reformation’s spirit for our generation: “Five hundred years ago, a powerful, continuous process of change, had its beginning. This process affected not only religious institutions and theological conceptions, but it brought a transformation in all aspects of the society. As Jesus Christ said, we can change the world to make it a better place. The Reformation is not an historical event crossed on the 16th Century, on the contrary, the Reformation SPIRIT and MESSAGE must be rediscovered and lived today”.
