Report from Mennonite – Catholic Dialogue now available

“Called Together to Be Peacemakers,” the final report of the international dialogue that occurred from 1998-2003 between representatives of the Mennonite World Conference and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Church Unity, was released in February. Thanks to the gracious help of the MWC office in Strasburg, France, we have been able to make the report available on the web. You will find a link to the document at http://www.bridgefolk.net/theology/dialogue.

The release of any such document would be a major event in Mennonite – Catholic relations, but the document makes major substantive contributions on many points. Chapter 1 endeavors to narrate the history that separated Mennonites from Catholics in a way that both can accept. Chapter 2 takes up three key theological concerns: the nature of the church, understandings of sacraments/ordinances, and the call to peacemaking. Chapter 3 closes with confessions of past sin that invite Mennonites and Catholics to move forward through a “healing of memories.”

While reading and reflecting on the document, begin thinking about how you might use it to encourage local dialogues between Mennonites and Catholics in your own setting.

Out of hibernation

Dear Bridgefolk:

Even here in Minnesota there are signs of spring. So it is a good time for the Bridgefolk email list to come out of hibernation. With this message I want to briefly let you know what has been happening and what will be coming in the next few days as we do a little catching up.

Though this list has been in hibernation, the Bridgefolk steering committee has not been asleep. A revitalized, redesigned newsletter called The BRIDGE has been in development and is almost ready for release. We now expect to put out a newsletter on a regular quarterly basis, in an attractive format that you will be able to share with friends.

As we put out the newsletter on a regular basis, we also expect to use this list to let you know about new developments as they happen, without the lag time that has come when we have expected the newsletter to do all our work. When we have news, or new material on the website, or updated conference information, we will let you know with shorter Bridgefolk Briefs.

As we catch up here, I will be sending out the first two or three Bridgefolk Briefs shortly. But don’t worry — we continue promising not to clutter up your email inbox!

Grace and peace,

Gerald W. Schlabach
Bridgefolk coordinator

Catholic and Mennonite scholars announce joint project to study Anabaptist martyrs, 2003

A group of prominent Mennonite and Catholic scholars will gather this summer at St. Johns Abbey to begin a joint historical study of the sixteenth-century Anabaptist martyrs, many of them condemned to death by the Inquisition.

It will be the first time Catholics have publicly confronted these incidents, and the first time that Mennonites have engaged in historical study of the martyrs in an ecumenical setting.

Entitled “The Anabaptist Martyr in an Ecumenical Context” the conference is an outgrowth of the international Mennonite Catholic dialogue that has been taking place for the past five years under the auspices of the Mennonite World Conference and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. Continue reading “Catholic and Mennonite scholars announce joint project to study Anabaptist martyrs, 2003” →