text: Have you been asleep for the last 20 or 30 years?  In June 25, 1998 [as approved by JP II], The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, published its Lutheran-Catholic JOINT DECLARATION ON THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION---"By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit.'---this was one of Luther's themes.
  
  In 2011, Pope Benedict was speaking to German Evangelical Lutherans on Luther's key points such as: 'what is God's position towards me, where do I stand before God,'  Christ is the interpretative center of the Bible and the heart of our spirituality---not devotions, novenas, indulgences, miraculous medals, etc.
  
  In October 30, 2015 Catholics and Lutherans release the "Declaration on the Way' to full unity.  This document was published by the USCCB.