Oct 22, 2017 5 min read

The Orthodox Church had split with Rome in 1054, and nearly a half-century later when a monk posted 95 theses, or points for theological debate, on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, he probably didn’t know he was about to again rock the foundations of the Roman Catholic Church.

The German monk Martin Luther took issue with the sale of indulgences, which, for a cash contribution, were promised to pardon the soul of a loved one from purgatory. He viewed this fundraising effort as extortion and asked, “Why does not the pope build St. Peter’s (basilica) with his own money … rather than with the money of poor Christians?”

Before Luther wrote his 95 theses, or sentences, there were some notable attempts to change various aspects of the Catholic church, but the penalty for those viewed as heretics was death.

The Rev. Donald McCoid, who hails from Wheeling, W.Va., and once pastored St. Luke Lutheran Church in Monessen, which was a religious center for many Finns, said during a talk over the summer at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, McMurray, “Oct. 31, 1517, turned the church upside down. That was not the intention. The intention was to renew and to dialogue.”

Luther was reportedly horrified some of those protesting various practices of the Catholic church were being called “Lutherans.”

Back in 1517, there were no Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists or Quakers. England’s Henry VIII was still married to Catherine of Aragon, and at that point in his kingly career, he had yet no need to break with a church that would later refuse to grant him a divorce or to establish the Church of England with himself, the monarch – not the pope – as head of the church.

Luther was a prolific writer, and his rise to prominence in Europe coincided with the introduction of movable type and the invention of the printing press by another German, Johannes Gutenberg. Excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 1521 and with a price on his head, Luther was hidden away by Frederick the Wise of Saxony, an elector of the Holy Roman Emperor who found it politically expedient to separate from Catholicism.

Luther translated the Bible into his native German language and advocated that Mass should be celebrated in everyday language and with hymns, a few dozen of which he’s credited.

Luther’s lyrics about “the murderous pope and Turk” were written when the forces of the Ottoman Empire were besieging Vienna in 1529 and in the 20th century, his anti-Semitic rants provided ample fodder for proponents of Nazism.

His book known as “The Small Catechism” endures to this day as a question-and-answer tool to explain the basic tenets of faith, and he wrote it as a tool for parents to use in teaching their children. Luther also saw the Sunday sermon as an opportunity to instruct parishioners. He married a former nun, Katherine von Bora, with whom he raised a family, and saw no reason for clergymen to remain celibate. During Luther’s lifetime, defections from the Roman Catholic Church did not occur peacefully, and differences between Protestants and Catholics fomented centuries of warfare.

McCoid pointed out that the Catholic Church did not observe the 100th, 200th, 300th or 400th anniversaries of the Protestant Reformation, and he recalled a time in the not-too-distant-past when “the official teaching was that those outside the Catholic Church were condemned to hell.”

He has been interested in ecumenism since the convening of the Second Vatican Council in 1962 , when he was a seminary student and which, he said, “ushered in a wave of liturgical and sacramental renewal.”

But in strides that have taken place in the past century.

“The spirit of God changed the hearts of many people including (Pope) John XXIII, who invoked Vatican II,” McCoid said. “We formerly regarded each other as heretics. Through dialogue and shared witness, we are no longer strangers.”

The Mass, instead of being spoken in Latin, could be celebrated in everyday language. Lutherans began to celebrate communion more often. Protestants and Catholics could look for aspects of the Christian faith they shared rather than focus on their differences.

As executive for ecumenical and inter-religious relations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which has about four million members, since November 2007, the same year he became bishop emeritus by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, McCoid has traveled to the Vatican.

He has met the pope in this capacity and spoke of “the Francis effect. We are being transformed by the person who is the Bishop of Rome. His message is ‘Repent and return to the church. Open the windows and let in some fresh air, not only the Catholic Church, but in churches throughout the world.’ I just marveled at the good things that were coming.”

McCoid spoke of an agreement between Catholic Relief Services and the Lutheran World Federation to examine how to unite efforts which he said is “showing powerful signs, especially in refugee camps. In 1521, Martin Luther was on trial. He said, ‘Here I stand. I could do no other.’ My hope is in 2021, we’ll be able to say, ‘Here we stand.’ Francis cannot change the theology of the church, but he can say we can sit down and do our work together.”

One of those who came to hear what McCoid had to say was Beechview resident Barb Nelson Nordeen, whose ancestors left Sweden three generations ago. Asked what the Reformation means to her today, she replied, “It’s a beginning. It’s revisiting a faith that is standing forward, an active faith that is standing up and staying firm.

“Luther placing his 95 theses on the door was saying, ‘This is what I believe. This is what I follow.'”

Several Washington churches will celebrate the anniversary of the Reformation Sunday. A procession from the steps of Washington County Courthouse to Church of the Covenant, 267 E. Beau St., Washington, will begin at 2 p.m. A service at the church will begin at 3, followed by a reception.