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The Baptist World Alliance, which represents 43 million Christians in 196 Baptist conventions and unions around the world, and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), which represents more than 75 million Christians in Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Reformed and United Churches, did not send representatives to the jubilee event.

Within Italy itself, the jubilee and yesterday's event have been controversial. Norbert Denecke, of the Lutheran Church in Italy, attended the ceremony, accompanying Bishop Christian Krause, president of the Lutheran World Federation. But other Protestant churches in Italy were not represented.

This follows criticism by local Protestants in Italy of what they see as the Vatican's monopoly of Christian celebrations for the millennium and Vatican pronouncements on indulgences for the jubilee year.

Domenico Tomasetto, president of the Federation of Italian Protestant Churches, told NEV, an Italian Protestant news agency: "Hardly any of the Protestant community in Italy participated in the opening of the 'holy door' of St Paul's Basilica, mindful of the fact that if it is true that Christ is the door to forgiveness, this forgiveness is open to us every day. The time of forgiveness is not controlled by any church authority, but is at the heart of the Gospel which is never closed to us."

At WARC's headquarters in Geneva, spokesperson Paraic Reamonn told ENI: "The alliance formally withdrew in March 1999 from the Vatican-sponsored central committee for the jubilee year."

Like many Protestant communions, WARC warmly welcomed the new relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant churches opened up by Vatican II. We have been engaged for many years in official bilateral dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church. This will continue.

"However," Reamonn said, "we felt that John Paul II's Bull [official document] declaring a jubilee indulgence made it impossible for us as a Reformed alliance to take part in jubilee celebrations organized by the Vatican."

The sixteenth-century Reformation—to which most of our member churches trace their origins—was sparked by the issue of indulgences and the practice of indulgences is, in our view, incompatible with the doctrine of justification by grace through faith."The Rome correspondent of the Guardian newspaper in London reported that Pope John Paul "exuded spontaneity, agility and joy not seen for years" in yesterday's historic ceremony. The Pope gave "a bravura performance which astonished observers who expected a shuffling, ailing pontiff," the reporter said.The newspaper's comments follow controversy in the media, particularly in Italy, over whether the Pope should or is planning to retire because of poor health. In the latest development, the National Catholic Reporter in the United States has reported that the Pope may have written a resignation letter to be activated if he becomes senile.

Copyright © 2000 Ecumenical News International. Used with permission.

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January (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44