Has there ever been another person mourned on a global scale in the way Pope John Paul is being mourned? We in Bridgefolk have special reason to join this outpouring of emotion and appreciation. Surely the speed with which the Mennonite Catholic bridge has developed is due, in some major way, to his leadership. It will be years if not centuries before the full impact of this historic life is apparent, but already there are several things for which we may be grateful: Continue reading “Ivan Kauffman reflects on the legacy of John Paul II”
Category: Commentary
Are Mennonites sacramental?
Are Mennonites sacramental? Mennonite theologian and Bridgefolk participant Tom Finger takes up that question in the cover story of the latest issue of The Mennonite. That article is available online at the following web address: http://www.themennonite.org/issues/7-18/articles/Are_Mennonites_sacramental
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
No Place to Stand
When you’re Christian, progressive, and “pro-life,” voting your conscience is often easier said than done.
by Heidi Schlumpf
What does it mean to be “pro-life”? For some, the term is understood very narrowly as the opposition to abortion, particularly through legal sanction. Others are committed to reducing the number of abortions, truly making them rare, but favor policies that don’t criminalize abortion—and prosecute women and/or their doctors—to do so. And as U.S. Catholic’s Heidi Schlumpf explains in this article, many people, on both sides of the legality question, see a genuinely pro-life stance as one that embraces respect for the human person at every stage—a position that’s hard to find in today’s polarized politics, and one that cries out for broad (and civil) dialogue across our various divides. —The Editors
It’s an election year, and once again Jennifer Roth is wondering if she might as well flip a coin. The 31-year-old systems administrator is one of those “swing voters” who could go either way—a demographic highly coveted by both Democrats and Republicans as the key to winning in 2004. But neither the Dems nor the GOP does much to inspire or excite Roth.
The problem? Roth is a self-described liberal on nearly all issues except one: Abortion. It’s a view that she—and countless other “pro-life progressives”—finds entirely consistent. “In my view liberalism is all about looking out for the little guy, the people who don’t have power, money, or protection,” she says.
But where does that leave her when it comes to the political process? Continue reading “No Place to Stand”
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 16th 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
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 Conservatives to Ponder
by Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Last week’s column suggested three areas for liberal self-scrutiny. It’s time for the flip-side. What three areas might conservatives ponder? Continue reading “Three Things for Conservatives to Ponder”