FINLAND & PALESTINE Proceedings of a Joint Workshop

•..-.--....-~-~-... ~......--- .......-...--......... -.-....... -. ..........~_ ......._...___..._. Martti Tuhkanen
the European continent. CEC was founded in 1959, and has
offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg. 2
ELCF has, at present, only three direct cooperation agreements
with churches abroad. They are quite general in nature, where
connection, exchange of information, and mutual support, are
central ideas. The direct cooperation agreements are with: (1)
ELC in Namibia, (2) China Christian Council, and (3) Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Ingria.
Areas of Responsibility
ClR has four areas of responsibility. Each of them has a desk at
the headquarters of the church:
1. Theology (4 persons)
A. Bilateral theological discussions (Faith and Order)
A major ecumenical achievement was the Joint Declaration
on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) signed in
1998. This is a cooperation document between the Lutherans
and the Roman Catholics. Its main achievement
is that the churches annul past condemnations on each
other issued some 500 years earlier.
B. Ecumenical agreements between ELCF and other Churches
Fairly well known is the "porvoo agreement" between
ELCF, and the Anglican churches of the British Islands,
Scandinavia and Baltic countries.
2www.evl.fi
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