Barry recently lost his temper when he was told that the moderate Evangelical Lutheran Church in America had reached agreement with the Roman Catholic Church on the theory of justification. The traditional idea of justification is that Christians are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. Further, salvation comes neither from good works nor from a life of devotion but from simply believing in Jesus Christ as lord and savior.

That has been a Lutheran theological principle for 500 years, since the days of the Reformation in Germany when Martin Luther broke from the Catholic Church and began forming his own followers into a denominational unit. And for half a millennium, that principle has been at the center of Lutheran beliefs.

When Lutherans and Catholics began talking about the issues that divide them, the justification principle was at the top of the list. Now, after 30 years of talking theology and arguing history, Catholics have said they agree with Lutherans on the issue of Justification.

But Barry says the Catholics are not telling the truth. In newspaper ads in 15 metropolitan journals and USA Today, Barry says Catholic theologians are lying about the beliefs of modern Catholics.

The ads cost about $200,000, according to Missouri Synod sources. But the money came from a small foundation in Earth City, Mo., that is funded by the Schwan family of Minnesota, purveyors of ice cream and other food products.

The ads, titled "Toward True Reconciliation," claimed the Missouri Synod is busy working toward the day "when the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed with one voice." Of course, critics of the ads wonder if that means the Gospel of Jesus Christ as interpreted by A.L. Barry.

Barry was not available for comment and seldom speaks directly with the media. Yet he blames the "public media" for misunderstandings about the agreement. So you can see many culprits had a hand in this ecumenical effort, but according to Barry the Missouri Synod is without blame.

That is not the opinion of some Lutheran and Catholic bishops, particularly those in Wisconsin who read the Missouri Synod ads in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and decided to take on Barry, who will face re-election during the summer of 2001.

So another statement joined the conflict, and this time the Wisconsin bishops said Barry's descriptions of Catholic doctrine were so misleading that Catholics could not recognize their own beliefs. The bishops said Barry is out of touch with modern Catholicism and does not understand the ecumenical process. The Missouri Synod ads, which appeared Dec. 19, may draw other responses.

David Strand, director of public relations for the conservative Lutheran denomination, said after news of the ecumenical agreement reached Missouri Synod people, many asked for clarification.

"It was not exactly a blitzkrieg, but there was some confusion and questions," Strand said. "We felt the way things got reported in the secular press that there might be a need for interpretation. There were many manifestations of people's confusion, so that we thought it might be a good idea to explain why some Lutheran bodies did not participate in that declaration."

Strand said there was an immediate response of hundreds of communiques, but 75 percent to 80 percent favored Barry.

"He knew he would be criticized." Strand said.

In fact, the criticism runs so deep that the Rev. Ralph Bohlman, the former president of the Missouri Synod, also criticized Barry's ads, saying thousands of Missouri Synod believers are "chagrined" by the misleading statements. Further, Bohlman said, ads in the public media are not a helpful way for churches to resolve differences.

Clark D. Morphew