The challenge of being a “pro-life” progressive

Living in the Twin Cities as I do, I cross back and forth over the Mississippi River that divides Minneapolis and St. Paul fairly often. Crossing one bridge, I can usually look across the water and see parallel bridges.

So it is that many of us in Bridgefolk who are “sacramentally-minded Mennonites” or “peace-minded Catholics” and are finding ways to bridge our traditions will easily recognize the challenge of living on another kind of bridge. This is the bridge between “pro-life” commitments often associated with conservative politics and “social justice” commitments often associated with progressive politics. It is a challenge that Catholics in the United States are especially feeling this electoral year. (Apologies to Bridgefolk in Canada and Europe!) But if Mennonite debates around a churchwide resolution on abortion a year ago are any indication, it is a challenge at least some Mennonites may be feeling too.

We haven’t talked much yet in Bridgefolk about the challenges and possibilities in what Catholics call the “seamless garment” of moral and social issues that Christians need to hold together in order to maintain a “consistent ethic of life.” If we are going to continue an honest and fruitful dialogue between Mennonites and Catholics we should expect to take this up too. A recent cover story in Sojourners magazine seems to be a good place to start.

“No Place to Stand” is by Heidi Schlumpf, managing editor of U.S. Catholic magazine. As the editors of Sojourners say in introducing the article, “When you’re Christian, progressive, and ‘pro-life,’ voting your conscience is often easier said than done.” To find the article, click here.

Gerald Schlabach

Common threads: Mennonites in dialogue with the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome

by Marilyn Stahl and Dirk Giseburt

In early May, several Mennonites from the United States paused in the 16^th century Church of Sant’Egidio in Rome. In the 1970s, after many years as an adjunct to a Carmelite convent, the church became the gathering place of the new Community of Sant’Egidio, a loosely organized group of young people who had come together in prayer and in dedication to service to the poor. With simple, white walls, the church is in the form of a cross. The altar on the left side is piled with Bibles in all the languages of countries where the Community has active membership. The altar on the right is decorated with a multitude of crosses made by craftspersons in many countries. The altar in front bears a very old Russian icon of Christ that had been found at the church.

“We pray here, between Holy Scripture and the poor, facing Jesus,” explained Claudio Betti, a Sant’Egidio member. When Sant’Egidio was founded in 1968, this twin devotion to the Bible and the poor had set the Community apart in Rome. But today, with 40,000 members worldwide, the Community has the support of Church leaders and has become a widely respected advocate both for the poor and for peace.

The tour continued: In the former convent dining room, Sant’Egidio members once acted as mediators between the factions in a civil war in Mozambique that had taken several hundred thousand lives. The negotiations lasted over two years but finally resulted in a peace agreement, signed in the dining room in 1992. The Community has several times been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as a result.

Sant’Egidio had invited American Mennonites to visit their community in Rome after making contact through the Mennonite-Catholic Bridgefolk conversations in the U.S. Continue reading “Common threads: Mennonites in dialogue with the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome” →

Mennonite-Catholic collaboration, dialogue surveyed in America magazine

Drew Christiansen S.J. surveys Mennonite-Catholic collaboration and dialogue in America magazine:

http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2826

We Pledge Allegiance…

by Gerald Schlabach

Sojourners

In a time of crisis, uncertainty, and policy debate, one would think that Christians in the United States would agree: When in doubt, we should support our leader and remain loyal to our nation.

Our leader, of course, is Jesus Christ. Our nation, of course, is the people called church, spread around the globe. Our pledge of allegiance, of course, is one that can be sung from within “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelations 5:9). Of course? Continue reading “We Pledge Allegiance…” →

“Handing Us Back Ourselves:”
On the Rediscovery of Mennonite Spirituality

by Mary Schertz
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary

An updated version of this article entitled
“Seeking the Taproot of Anabaptist Spirituality”
is now available at
http://www.cascadiapublishinghouse.com/dsm/autumn04/schema.htm

Have we, as Mennonite people of faith, “lost our spirituality,” or perhaps never claimed a spirituality and, consequently, do we need to look to other traditions, such as Catholic spirituality, in order to recover this vital aspect of religious commitment? These questions emerged recently in the context of the recent consultation on Mennonite-Catholic dialog held at St. John’s Abbey in the rolling hills of Steuben County, Minnesota-Lake Wobegon country. It was a wonderful weekend-replete with Benedictine hospitality, reunion with old friends and the excitement of making new ones, stimulating papers, reciting Psalms with the monks, singing hymns with the Mennonites, good food and great (relatively cool) weather. Continue reading ““Handing Us Back Ourselves:”
On the Rediscovery of Mennonite Spirituality” →

Three Things for Liberals to Ponder

by Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Things rarely are simple. Nothing, save God, comes without a shadow.

That’s good to keep in mind when we assess the pros and cons of liberals and conservatives. Each brings something to the table and each too has an achilles heel.

What is the achilles heel within liberal Catholicism? I suggest three places where liberal Catholicism (Protestantism included) might want to do some self-scrutiny: Continue reading “Three Things for Liberals to Ponder” →

When you’re Christian, progressive, and “pro-life,” voting your conscience is often easier said than done.

by Marilyn Stahl and Dirk Giseburt

by Mary Schertz Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary

by Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

by Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

by Mark and Louise Zwick

by Mary Schertz
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary