News Release
SCHOLARS AND CHURCH LEADERS TO EXPLORE
SHARED MENNONITE & CATHOLIC CALLING TO BE PEACEMAKERS
SOUTH BEND,
IND., JUNE 14 (Bridgefolk.org) – International leaders of Roman Catholic and
Mennonite communions are on record as being “called together to be peacemakers.”
That was the title of the report that the Vatican and the Mennonite World
Conference released in 2004 after five years of dialogue.
Three years
later, the implications of their commitment are only beginning to be felt, but
on July 30-31 top Catholic and Mennonite theologians and church leaders will
gather at the University of Notre Dame to help rectify this situation. “In
neither tradition,” conference planners note, “are the dialogue and its historic
results well known.”
“The conference is designed to stimulate scholarly
interest in this important document,” explains Margaret Pfeil, a professor of
theology and social ethics at Notre Dame. It will also provide resources “for
Catholic and Mennonite ecclesial communities to study and discuss this text in
an informed way,” she added. Pfeil has been an active participant in grassroots
dialogue between Mennonites and Catholics through the Bridgefolk movement.
Grassroots discussions of the document have been taking place in various
regions, notes Pfeil. “If results are similar here, we can expect this gathering
of Catholics and Mennonites not only to reach certain conclusions about how they
agree and disagree on theology, but to explore practical ways to continue
working together.”
The conference will open with an introductory panel
on the “Called Together to Be Peacemakers” document. Scott Appleby of the Kroc
Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame will discuss its
significance, together with Alan Kreider of Associated Mennonite Biblical
Seminary (AMBS). Responding will be two participants in the international
dialogue, Helmut Harder and Drew Christiansen S.J.
For the remaining
time, the conference will follow the outline of “Called Together,” grouping
Mennonite and Catholic scholars together in each session. John Roth of Goshen
College and John Cavadini of Notre Dame will address the theme of “Considering
History Together.” C. Arnold Snyder of the University of Waterloo and Mary Doak
of the University of San Diego will discuss “The Nature of the Church.”
Day two of the conference will begin with a session on “Sacraments and
Ordinances,” led by Elizabeth Groppe of Xavier University and Thomas Finger,
author of A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology. Addressing “Our Commitment to
Peace” will be Bishop Gabino Zavala, President of Pax Christi USA, and Duane
Friesen of Bethel College, Kansas.
The final section of “Called Together
to Be Peacemakers” seeks to work “Toward a Healing of Memories.” Gerald
Schlabach of the University of St. Thomas, and executive director of Bridgefolk,
will explore the prospects for healing with a presentation entitled “Catholic
and Mennonite: A Journey of Healing.” Bridgefolk board members Mary Schertz of
AMBS and Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B. of St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota will
respond.
“In a way, the conference represents a sort of evangelization,”
Pfeil says. “Our overarching hope is to assess this text from the perspective of
both traditions in a way that is very high-caliber but also contemplative. We
want the results to be useful in both academic and ecclesial settings, and to
generate greater awareness.”
By design, the conference will be
open-ended. The schedule will allow ample time for discussion so that
participants can appropriate the material being presented for themselves,
session by session. Organizers hope this will have a cumulative, building
effect, so that by the final session, participants will arrive at their own
conclusions about the implications of this document.
The many
opportunities for discussion throughout the conference will climax in a closing
session seeking to identify ways of “Moving Forward from Here.”
Registration and additional information is available at www.nd.edu/~peacecnf. Registration is
free to Notre Dame and AMBS students, faculty, and staff. The document “Called
Together to Be Peacemakers” is available at bridgefolk.net/theology/mwc-pcpcu.php.
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Conference sponsors:
Bridgefolk
The Mennonite-Catholic Theological Colloquium
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
Shalom Communications
Theology Department, Notre Dame
Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, Notre Dame
The Catholic Social Tradition Program, Notre Dame
The Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Notre Dame