NZ Catholics and Lutherans designate Sixth Sunday of Easter as Festival of New Life

This coming Sixth Sunday of Easter – May 5 – has been designated by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference and the New Zealand Lutheran Church as the “Festival of New Life”, an occasion meant to signal hope and confidence in the move towards Christian unity.

It is an initiative of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue, highlighting baptism and its significance for Christian unity.

“We have all been baptised in Christ, and realising this provides a starting point for the seeds of unity to take root," says Fr James Lyons of Wellington, on behalf of the Dialogue.

In October 2021, the Catholic and Lutheran churches in Aotearoa New Zealand approved a statement recognising the unity of each other’s baptisms.

The Festival of New Life initiative affirms the shared belief “in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins as confessed in the Nicene Creed.” It is an invitation for parishes on the Sixth Sunday of Easter – the Sunday preceding the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – to focus on baptism as the seedbed from which Christians can develop a deeper appreciation of one another on their journey to wholeness.

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