The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) approved a statement on Monday expressing "deep regret and sorrow" to Mennonites for Lutheran persecution of the group during the 16th century.

Approved by unanimous vote during the LWF's Council meeting in Geneva, the "Action on the Legacy of Lutheran Persecution of 'Anabaptists'" petitions Mennonites to forgive previous acts of Lutheran violence against the group, particularly the hundreds of Mennonite executions occurring during the Reformation period.

The statement also seeks forgiveness for later Lutherans who have forgotten or ignored the persecutions or have continued to describe Anabaptists in misleading and damaging ways.

The statement was authored based on a four-year study from the Lutheran-Mennonite Study Commission entitled "Healing of Memories: Reconciling in Christ," which the LWF Council commended as, "thorough and important work."

 Welcoming the declaration was Rev. Dr. Larry Miller, general secretary of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC), who said that the request for forgiveness would also require changes on the Mennonite side.

"You are not applauding for yourselves, you are applauding for the grace of God in our midst," Miller told the Council. "Mennonites have learned from Lutherans that we are justified by faith alone, because we know that justification produces not only relations between oneself and God but also communion between the churches."

The LWF is expected to officially adopt the statement during the group's July 2010 Assembly meeting in Stuttgart, Germany, which General Secretary Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko anticipates will be a "landmark" conference.

"Our children will be proud of this day," Noko said.