Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Two Lutheran Pastors Have Become Catholic

National Lutheran Priests from East Germany convert to the Catholic Church by assisting at Holy Eucharist and professing the Nicene Creed.  They are preparing themselves now for the priesthood.

Dresden (kath.net) Two National Lutheran pastors have used their summer vacations to convert to the Catholic Church.  Jochen Schubert, who is married and has a daughter, is leaving the Lutheran rectory of Seelinstädt and has settled in Dresden.  Also Jens Bulisch from Schmölln near Bischofswerda has completed the step.  The 39 year old is married and the father of two children.  This was reported in "Der Sonntag", the weekly paper for the Evangelical Lutheran National Church of Saxony.  Both theologians work as pastoral assistants of the Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen and are preparing also to become Catholic priests.

Bulisch had developed a growing coldness to Christian ritual according to the "Ostthüringer Zeitung".  "Are they celebrating the people themselves or God?",  so said the theologian found himself often asking.  And "Der Sonntag"  mentioned that there were still further theological considerations, some over the understanding of the priestly office, as well as personal experiences with the Catholic Church played a role,  to foster a decision "growing over the years".

Schubert was already known in the Evangelical Community for his love for Catholic traditions, noted the "Ostthüringer Zeitung".  He puts much value on the Liturgy, the use of a black instead of a white cassock and is said to have stressed Catholic feast days like All Saints, usually more than the inner-Evangelical ones.

The conversion to the Roman Catholic Church was consummated on the 25th of July this year, in which they assisted at a Catholic  Holy Mass and professed the Nicean Creed, reported, "Der Sonntag".

Link to kath.net...

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