Pope John Paul II Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Protestantism=== Like his successors after him, John Paul II took a large number of initiatives to promote friendly relations, practical humanitarian cooperation and theological dialogue with a range of [[Protestant]] bodies. Of these the first in importance had to be with [[Lutheran]]ism, given that the contention with [[Martin Luther]] and his followers was the most significant historical split in Western Christianity.{{cn|date=October 2022}} ==== Lutheranism ==== {{Refimprove section|date=October 2022}} From 15 to 19 November 1980, John Paul II visited [[West Germany]]<ref name="Travels – Federal Republic of Germany 1980 – John Paul II – The Holy Father – The Holy See" /> on his first trip to a country with a large [[Lutheran]] [[Protestant]] population. In [[Mainz]], he met with leaders of the [[Protestant Church in Germany]], and with representatives of other Christian denominations.{{cn|date=October 2022}} On 11 December 1983, John Paul II participated in an ecumenical service in the [[Christuskirche, Rome|Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rome]],<ref name="Ökumenisches Treffen mit der evangelisch-lutherischen Gemeinde von Rom" /> the first papal visit ever to a Lutheran church. The visit took place 500 years after the birth of the German [[Martin Luther]], who was first an [[Order of Saint Augustine|Augustinian]] friar and subsequently a leading Protestant [[Reformation|Reformer]].{{cn|date=October 2022}} In his apostolic pilgrimage to Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Sweden of June 1989,<ref name="vatican" /> John Paul II became the first pope to visit countries with Lutheran majorities. In addition to celebrating Mass with Catholic believers, he participated in ecumenical services at places that had been Catholic shrines before the Reformation: [[Nidaros Cathedral]] in Norway; near St. Olav's Church at [[Þingvellir|Thingvellir]] in Iceland; [[Turku Cathedral]] in Finland; [[Roskilde Cathedral]] in Denmark; and [[Uppsala Cathedral]] in Sweden.{{cn|date=October 2022}} On 31 October 1999, (the 482nd anniversary of [[Reformation Day]], Martin Luther's posting of the [[The Ninety-Five Theses|95 Theses]]), representatives of the [[Catholic Church]]'s [[Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity]] and the [[Lutheran World Federation]] signed a [[Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification]], as a gesture of unity. The signing was a fruit of a theological dialogue that had been going on between the [[Lutheran World Federation]] and the [[Holy See]] since 1965.{{cn|date=October 2022}} ==== Anglicanism ==== John Paul II had good relations with the [[Church of England]], as also with other parts of the [[Anglican Communion]]. He was the first reigning pope to travel to the United Kingdom, in 1982, where he met [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the [[Supreme Governor of the Church of England]]. He preached in [[Canterbury Cathedral]] and received [[Robert Runcie]], the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. He said that he was disappointed by the Church of England's decision to [[Ordination of women in the Anglican Communion|ordain women]] and saw it as a step away from unity between the [[Anglican Communion]] and the Catholic Church.<ref name="Kirby" /> In 1980, John Paul II issued a [[Pastoral Provision]] allowing married former Episcopal priests to become Catholic priests, and for the acceptance of former [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] parishes into the Catholic Church. He allowed the creation of a form of the [[Roman Rite]], known informally by some as the [[Anglican Use]], which incorporates selected elements of the Anglican [[Book of Common Prayer]] that are compatible with Catholic doctrine. He permitted Archbishop [[Patrick Flores]] of [[San Antonio]], Texas, to establish [[Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church]], together as the inaugural parish for the use of this hybrid liturgy.<ref name="Atonement" /> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page