Susan Kennel Harrison: True dialogue doesn’t allow you to give up your distinct beliefs

Susan Kennel Harrison, former Bridgefolk Board member, recently offered the following reflection on the nature of interfaith dialogue on the blog site State of Formation.

To be “good” at Interfaith dialogue you need to first know the beliefs of your religious tradition, more precisely than your average practitioner, “the faithful.” You not only need to know the beliefs of your religious tradition but why it holds those specific beliefs. You also need to know how those of other denominations of your religious tradition might believe differently, and why; the nuances of where/why your part of the same tradition might not agree with them doctrinally or where you vary in practice. Continue reading “Susan Kennel Harrison: True dialogue doesn’t allow you to give up your distinct beliefs” →

C.J. Dyck, Mennonite observer at Vatican II, dies Jan. 10

News Release
Mary E. Klassen
Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary
January 13, 2014

CJDyck1998

Cornelius J. (C.J.) Dyck not only researched and taught Mennonite history, he lived it, and he will be remembered for the wisdom, wit and commitment with which he did all three.

Dyck (92) died Friday, Jan. 10, in Normal, Ill., where he and Wilma, his wife, had been living for several years. For 35 years he worked in administration at Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Chicago, Ill., and taught at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), Elkhart, Ind. In addition, he made significant contributions in the General Conference Mennonite Church, through Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) assignments in Europe and South America, in Mennonite World Conference (MWC), and as an ordained pastor.

Dyck was executive secretary of Mennonite World Conference in the early 1960s at the time of the Second Vatican Council. The MWC did not seek official observer status at Vatican II, but approved Dyck’s request to attend as a journalist. His reports were published in various Mennonite periodicals and are available here. Continue reading “C.J. Dyck, Mennonite observer at Vatican II, dies Jan. 10” →

Pope Francis affirms priority of Christian unity, cites “ecumenism of blood”

In a mid-December interview with the Italian periodical La Stampa, Pope Francis affirmed continuing work for Christian unity. But Christians should also recognize that they already are united through the “ecumenism of blood”:

Is Christian unity a priority for you?

“Yes, for me ecumenism is a priority. Today there is an ecumenism of blood. In some countries they kill Christians for wearing a cross or having a Bible and before they kill them they do not ask them whether they are Anglican, Lutheran, Catholic or Orthodox. Their blood is mixed. To those who kill we are Christians. We are united in blood, even though we have not yet managed to take necessary steps towards unity between us and perhaps the time has not yet come. Unity is a gift that we need to ask for. I knew a parish priest in Hamburg who was dealing with the beatification cause of a Catholic priest guillotined by the Nazis for teaching children the catechism. After him, in the list of condemned individuals, was a Lutheran pastor who was killed for the same reason. Their blood was mixed. The parish priest told me he had gone to the bishop and said to him: “I will continue to deal with the cause, but both of their causes, not just the Catholic priest’s.” This is what ecumenism of blood is. It still exists today; you just need to read the newspapers. Those who kill Christians don’t ask for your identity card to see which Church you were baptised in. We need to take these facts into consideration.”

Click here to read entire interview by Andrea Tornielli, “Never be afraid of tenderness.”

New resource: Just Peace: Ecumenical, Intercultural, and Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Christian theology and ethics have wrestled with the challenge to apply Jesus’s central message of nonviolence to the injustices of this world. Is it not right to defend the persecuted by using violence? Is it unjust if the oppressed defend themselves—if necessary by the use of violence—in order to liberate themselves and to create a more just society? Can we leave the doctrine of the just war behind and shift all our attention toward the way of a just peace?

In 2011 the World Council of Churches brought to a close the Decade to Overcome Violence, to which the churches committed themselves at the beginning of the century. Just peace has evolved as the new ecumenical paradigm for contemporary Christian ethics. Just peace signals a realistic vision of holistic peace, with justice, which in the concept of shalom is central in the Hebrew Bible as well as in the gospel message of the New Testament. Continue reading “New resource: Just Peace: Ecumenical, Intercultural, and Interdisciplinary Perspectives“ →

Catholic News Service on the life and work of Bro. Jeffrey Gros

By Carol Zimmermann, Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Christian Brother Jeffrey Gros, a leader in the ecumenical movement and former official with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, died Aug. 12 at age 75. For more than a year, he struggled with pancreatic cancer.

For decades, Brother Gros participated in an untold number of dialogues with religious groups, delivered keynote addresses around the world, edited numerous books and wrote hundreds of book reviews. He has been remembered by colleagues for his zealous work in broadening the scope of ecumenism.

An online posting described him as “a public thinker” in theology, ecumenism and catechesis. Continue reading “Catholic News Service on the life and work of Bro. Jeffrey Gros” →

Brother Jeffrey Gros, RIP

Brother Jeffrey Gros, 75, died in Chicago, IL on August 12, 2013. A De La Salle Christian Brother for 58 years, he was born John Jefferson in Memphis, TN, the son of Jeff and Faye (Dickinson) Gros. He graduated from Price College in Amarillo, TX, entered the novitiate of the Brothers in Glencoe, MO, in 1955, and professed his final vows in 1963. He received a BA and a MEd from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.

Brother Jeffrey earned an MA in Theology from Marquette University and a PhD in Theology from Fordham University. During his years as an educator, he taught in Evanston and Romeoville, IL, Glencoe and St. Louis, MO, and Memphis, TN. He was well known in the ecumenical movement for broadening its scope, published widely in theological journals and periodicals, edited numerous books on ecumenism, and spoke to various religious and educational groups throughout the world. Continue reading “Brother Jeffrey Gros, RIP” →

Amen to it all: my first Holy Communion and then what happened

by John Kotre

My first Holy Communion was white. It was back in 1948 and the girls wore little bridal outfits and the boys white shirts and pants. The priest was vested in white and a white cloth covered the communion rail. The bread I received was itself white–a thin, almost transparent wafer. I let it dissolve on my tongue. “You don’t chew Jesus,” Sister Girard had told us. It was her way of saying “transubstantiation.”

I didn’t chew Jesus but I don’t remember talking to him either. My face was buried in my hands, and I was imagining what a softening host looked like in my mouth, far from my teeth. Sister Girard said that communion poured sanctifying grace into our souls, and for years I pictured that grace as milk. After each communion I checked my milk-bottle soul and saw that the level of grace had risen. It must have gone down between communions because I was never able to top off the tank.

In my teens the milk bottle gave way to abstract thinking. Now I could absorb concepts like transubstantiation, and so I did during six years as a Jesuit seminarian. Continue reading “Amen to it all: my first Holy Communion and then what happened” →

News release on 2013 Bridgefolk conference

2013 Bridgefolk conference to focus on reconciliation
News release
June 6, 2013

Collegeville, MN (Bridgefolk) – Bridgefolk, the Mennonite-Catholic ecumenical organization, will hold its 12^th annual conference July 25-28 at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The conference theme, “Reconciliation: A Way to Peace,” is one of a series focusing on key spiritual practices that unite both Mennonites and Roman Catholics. Continue reading “News release on 2013 Bridgefolk conference” →

Register now for Bridgefolk 2013 conference!

Bridgefolk 2013 online registration is now open! Under the theme “Reconciliation: A Way to Peace,” Bridgefolk is holding its 12^th annual conference July 25-28 at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The conference will feature John Rempel (Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre) and Christian McConnell (St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto) as keynote speakers. Conference sessions will include times of worship, instruction, reflection, and fellowship (including agape meal, hymn sing, and ice cream social!). As a grassroots movement of Catholics and Mennonites “proceeding through friendship,” Bridgefolk welcomes all those interested to join us. Day registration options are available for Friday and Saturday. Child care will be provided on request. For registration, schedule, and travel information, go to http://www.bridgefolk.net/conferences/bridgefolk-2013.