WITTENBERG: Catholic and Lutheran leaders on Tuesday begged forgiveness for violence sparked by the Reformation, as worshippers celebrated 500 years since the religious revolution that created the Protestant church.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived for a service at the church where German theologian Martin Luther is said to have first displayed his list of criticisms of the Catholic Church in 1517.

Legend has it Luther nailed his “95 theses” to the church door in a brazen challenge to the powerful institution, creating shock waves that eventually changed the face of Christianity.

The Reformation caused major upheaval in Europe, leading to wars, persecutions and exoduses, including the departure of the Pilgrims for what was later to become America.

The deadliest of Europe’s religious conflicts was the Thirty Years’ War which ended in 1648 and after which religion’s role in European politics was reduced.

The Vatican and Lutheran World Federation released a rare joint statement on the anniversary on Tuesday, saying they “begged forgiveness for our failures and for the ways in which Christians have wounded the Body of the Lord and offended each other during the five hundred years since the beginning of the Reformation until today”.

“We recognise that while the past cannot be changed, its influence upon us today can be transformed to become a stimulus for growing communion, and a sign of hope for the world to overcome division and fragmentation,” they said.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2017