Mennonite delegation well received by Catholic leaders in Rome
News Service
November 5, 2007
Strasbourg, France – Mennonites and Catholics are developing a common
statement to the World Council of Churches (WCC) as it prepares for the
International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in 2011. The convocation,
convened by the WCC, will come as the culmination of the WCC “Decade to
Overcome Violence. Churches seeking Reconciliation and Peace” (2001 – 2010). Read more
Join us in prayer, as Vatican hosts worldwide Mennonite representatives
Please join us in prayer as Mennonite delegates from 10 countries around the world travel to Rome for continuing consultations on Mennonite-Catholic dialogue and peace. Read more
Mennonite-Catholic International Dialogue Report Going to Churches
NEWS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference
For Immediate Release
April 7, 2004
At first thought, a small group of Mennonites and a Vatican delegation seem to be unlikely conversation partners. But maybe not. Five-plus years after they first met for a formal Dialogue, seven representatives from Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and seven from the Catholic Church’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity have issued a Report of their conversations. Its title hints at the intention of the meetings, as well as their tone–“Called Together to Be Peacemakers.”
But the conversations and the Report are only one part of the process for MWC. Another part is just beginning. Mennonite World Conference is forwarding copies of the Report to all of its member churches for their “study and reaction.” The English document has been translated into French; a Spanish translation is underway.
“On the MWC side, we are now entering a broadening stage in the process,” explained MWC Executive Secretary Larry Miller, who was one of the participants in the conversations. “This Report is not a kind of Encyclical handed down from the MWC office. Instead, it is intended to be reviewed and explored by Mennonites and Brethren in Christ around the world–from the point of view of their own contexts and convictions.” Read more
Mennonite-Catholic dialogue featured in Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano
International Contacts Between Mennonites and Catholics
by John A. Radano
For its relationship with Mennonites, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity is in touch with the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) whose central office is in Strasbourg, France. Those communities from different parts of the world adhering to the MWC consist altogether of about one million persons.
There were two important contacts in this past year. First, the President of the MWC, Dr. Mesach Kristeya accepted the invitation of Pope John Paul II to participate in the “Day of Prayer for Peace in the World” January 24, 2002, in Assisi, and read one of the ten statements of commitment in the third part of that day. Second, another session took place of the international dialogue organized by the MWC and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Read more
Joint news release: Mennonite-Catholic International Dialogue
JOINT PRESS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
November 14, 2002
AKRON, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. – The fifth meeting of the Mennonite-Catholic international dialogue took place at the headquarters of the Mennonite Central Committee, Akron, Pennsylvania, October 25-31, 2002. Co-sponsored by the Mennonite World Conference (Strasbourg, France) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Vatican City), the dialogue began in 1998, has met annually since then and is working toward issuing a final report in 2003. Dr. Helmut Harder (Mennonite, Winnipeg, Canada) and Bishop Joseph Martino (Catholic, Philadelphia PA, USA) are co-chairmen. Read more
Joint News Release: Mennonite-Catholic International Dialogue
JOINT NEWS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference and
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
January 28, 2002
ASSISI, Italy – The fourth meeting of the Mennonite-Catholic international dialogue took place at St. Anthony’s Guest House of the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, in Assisi, Italy, November 27th-December 3rd, 2001. Co-sponsored by the Mennonite World Conference (Strasbourg) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Vatican City), the dialogue began in 1998 and is anticipated to run for at least five annual sessions after which it will issue a report. Dr. Helmut Harder (Mennonite, Winnipeg, Canada) and Bishop Joseph Martino (Catholic, Philadelphia PA, USA) are co-chairmen.
The presentations given in this session of the dialogue focused especially on two themes. On one theme concerning the sacraments, papers were presented on the Mennonite side by Dr. Helmut Harder (“What Anabaptists-Mennonite Confessions of Faith Say About Baptism and the Lord’s Supper”) and on the Catholic side by Rev. Dr. James F. Puglisi, SA, Rome (“Contemporary Theology of the Sacraments with Particular Attention to the Christian Initiation [Baptism and Eucharist]“). On a second theme concerning relations between church and state in the Middle Ages, papers were presented from the Mennonite perspective by Dr. Neal Blough, Paris, France (“From the Edict of Milan to Vatican II, via Theodosius, Clovis, Charlemagne and the Fourth Lateran Council”) and from the Catholic perspective by Dr. Peter Nissen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands (“Church and Secular Power[s] in the Middle Ages”). Read more
Mennonites and Catholics Find Common Ground on Adult Baptism
NEWS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference (MWC)
January 28, 2002
ASSISI, Italy – Global Anabaptist-related churches may be surprised to learn that Catholics believe in baptizing adults on confession of faith. Wasn’t voluntary adult baptism at the root of the turmoil and persecution of Anabaptists in the 16th century in Europe?
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper were topics discussed here November 27 to December 3, 2001, at the fourth of five Mennonite-Catholic Dialogues begun in 1998. Read more
Walter Cardinal Kaspar’s letter on Mennonite-Catholic dialogue
Greeting to the Mennonite Delegation
November 26, 2001
Walter Cardinal Kasper
Dear Friends,
I am delighted to welcome you to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
We are very happy that a dialogue between the Mennonite World Conference and the Catholic Church has been underway since 1998. Be assured of my best wishes and prayers for a fruitful meeting in Assisi in the days ahead, and in due time, for a report of the round of dialogues that will be useful for both of our communities.
I know that from the start this dialogue has had as one of its aims the hope of contributing to a healing of memories between our two communions. Read more
Joint News Release: Mennonite-Catholic International Dialogue
JOINT NEWS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
December 13, 2000
THOMASHOF, Germany–The third meeting of the Mennonite-Roman Catholic international dialogue took place at the Thomashof Tagungsstatte, a Mennonite conference centre near Karlsruhe, Germany, November 24-30, 2000. Co-sponsored by the Mennonite World Conference (Strasbourg) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Vatican City), the dialogue began in 1998 and is anticipated to run for five annual sessions after which it will issue a report. Dr. Helmut Harder (Mennonite, Winnipeg, Canada) and Bishop Joseph Martino (Roman Catholic, Philadelphia, PA, USA) are co-chairmen.
This session of the dialogue focused on two themes, one of a contemporary nature formulated under the question, “What is a Peace Church?” The interest in the question of peace arises anew in light of the fact that Mennonites are identified as one of the Historic Peace Churches, and Catholics have addressed the issue of peace in recent times in a new way, in a variety of texts, including Gaudium et Spes (Second Vatican Council) and Papal encyclicals, from Pacem in Terris (John XXIII) to Centesimus Annus (Pope John Paul II). The Mennonite papers were presented by Rev. Andrea Lange (Bolanden-Weierhof, Germany) and Rev. Mario Higueros (Ciudad di Guatemala, Guatemala), and the Catholic paper by Rev. Drew Christiansen, S.J. (Washington, D.C., USA). The second theme focused on the impact of the Constantinian shift on the Church. Papers were presented on the Catholic side by Dr. Peter Nissen (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) and on the Mennonite side by Dr. Alan Kreider (Elkhart, Indiana, USA). Read more
