Na Noruega, duas Igrejas luteranas aproximam-se, conta o Ecumenical News International, serviço de imprensa do Conselho Mundial de Igrejas:
Two Lutheran churches in Norway move closer to unity
Por Oivind Ostang (ENI, Oslo, 2 Novembro)
The (Lutheran) Church of Norway and the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church of Norway have negotiated an agreement of full recognition and cooperation to come into force once approved by the synods of the two denominations. "We can serve each other as churches with the experiences we have from our different church structures," said the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, the ecumenical officer for the Church of Norway. "One plus one is more than two in this context." The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Norway was founded in 1877 by Church of Norway priests and lay people who had left the majority State church. They opposed the State Church system and wanted to promote stronger personal piety among church members. The agreement, called "One faith - together as Lutheran churches in Norway", was announced by the Church of Norway Information Service on 27 October. It states that the two denominations fully recognise each other, including their ordained ministries. The churches will remain separate, though with a common doctrinal basis. The two churches have cooperated for many years in the Norwegian national committee of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The Free church became an associate LWF member in 1997, and has been a full federation member since 2005. The Church of Norway is one of the founding churches of the LWF. The Free church has about 22 000 members in 80 congregations. The Church of Norway includes 85 per cent of Norway’s 4.6 million inhabitants.
Fonte: ENI