Pope Benedict Praises Nonviolence

Pontiff Calls Volunteers Peace Workers
Addresses Youth of Italy’s Civil Service

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 29, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI called the youth volunteers of Italy’s civil service “workers of peace” and congratulated them on their enthusiasm and generosity.

“Peace is never attained once and for all, but must be built up ceaselessly,” he said, quoting the Vatican II pastoral constitution Gaudium et spes. “How real this observation is! Unfortunately, wars and violence never end, and the search for peace is always a toilsome business.”

Quoting the council fathers, the Pontiff explained: “New approaches based on reformed attitudes must be taken to remove this trap and to emancipate the world from its crushing anxiety through the restoration of genuine peace.”

According to Benedict XVI, “the authentic conversion of hearts represents the right way, the only way that can lead each one of us and all humanity to the peace that we hope for.”

“It is the way indicated by Jesus: He — the King of the universe — did not come to bring peace to the world with an army, but through refusing violence,” he added. Continue reading “Pope Benedict Praises Nonviolence” →

Summer Ecumenical Institute in Saskatoon, SK

Here is another opportunity for ecumenical conversation in which Mennonites and Catholics have both played a part, in western Canada.

Summer Ecumenical Institute 2009: Telling our story, shaping our future: Christian unity and reconciliation in Canada

June 2-5, 2009 in Saskatoon, SK

The Summer Ecumenical Institute will function as a stock-taking and a vision-building exercise for the grassroots ecumenical community in Canada. 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism. It is also the 50th anniversary of the announcement by Pope John XXIII of the Second Vatican Council, one of whose main aims was the advancement of Christian unity. It is 50 years since our founder, Fr. Bernard de Margerie, received his call to the path of ecumenism. There is much to celebrate!

This conference will be the climax of a year of themed events giving thanks for the past achievements of the ecumenical movement and committing ourselves to Christian unity and reconciliation for the future. Continue reading “Summer Ecumenical Institute in Saskatoon, SK” →

Duke Summer Reconciliation Institute

The Center for Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School has extended a special invitation to Bridgefolk to participate in a week-long training workshop May 31 – June 5. Three Bridgefolk leaders took part in a conference at the center last year and found it be a meaningful opportunity to explore the challenge of reconciliation at many levels — international, racial, and ecumenical.. Continue reading “Duke Summer Reconciliation Institute” →

Fr. Richard Rohr joins Marcellus Day pilgrimage of Mennonites and Catholics

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AMBS)— Richard Rohr, Catholic priest and well-known writer and speaker, joined the annual Marcellus Day pilgrimage of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary on October 30. Each year, AMBS commemorates the martyr death of Marcellus, a third-century Roman soldier, with a walk through the neighborhoods of Mishawaka and South Bend, Ind., ending at the University of Notre Dame, where the relics of Marcellus lie in the university’s basilica. Continue reading “Fr. Richard Rohr joins Marcellus Day pilgrimage of Mennonites and Catholics” →

Goshen College performs plays on the lives of the saints

Last summer the theme of the 2008 Bridgefolk conference was “Saints and the Spirituality that Sustains Them.” News of a specially-commissioned series of short plays being performed this coming weekend at a Mennonite college is particularly striking, therefore.
Continue reading “Goshen College performs plays on the lives of the saints” →

Bridging a Divided Church in Colombia

The following news release from Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) reports on a joint peacemaking project by Mennonites and Catholics in the South American nation of Colombia. CPT describes its mission as “Getting in the Way,” and asks: “What would happen if Christians devoted the same discipline and sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war?” CPT seeks to enlist the whole church in organized, nonviolent alternatives to war and places teams of trained peacemakers in regions of lethal conflict. For further information on CPT, visit http://www.cpt.org/.
Continue reading “Bridging a Divided Church in Colombia” →

Joint statement by Mennonites and Catholics to WCC Decade to Overcome Violence now available

Following up on their 1998-2003 dialogue and ground-breaking document, Called Together to Be Peacemakers Mennonite and Catholic leaders met together for a brief conference October 23-25, 2007 in order to offer joint suggestions for the World Council of Churches’ Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV). The DOV will culminate in an International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in 2011. In preparation, representatives from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Mennonite World Conference met at the Centro Pro Unione in Rome with the goal of submitting theological reflections that Mennonites and Catholics, committed to overcoming violence, might affirm together as a witness to peace in the ecumenical context. Continue reading “Joint statement by Mennonites and Catholics to WCC Decade to Overcome Violence now available” →

Pontiff Calls Volunteers Peace Workers Addresses Youth of Italy’s Civil Service

Summer Ecumenical Institute 2009: Telling our story, shaping our future: Christian unity and reconciliation in Canada

Pontiff Calls Volunteers Peace Workers
Addresses Youth of Italy’s Civil Service