Bridgefolk is a movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other's traditions, explore each other's practices, and honor each other's contribution to the mission of Christ's Church.
Salt + Light TV, a Canadian Catholic media network, featured Abbot John Klassen OSB in an interview in December. Abbot John is Bridgefolk co-chair. (By the way, Bridgefolk participants may recognize Lois Kauffman and Julia Smucker at the liturgy of hours during the sixth minute of the clip.)
http://youtu.be/i9NwAJI8KtE
Rome, Italy/Bogota, Colombia (MWC) – An international trilateral dialogue between Mennonites, Catholics and Lutherans began in Rome, 9-13 December 2012.
According to a joint release issued after the Rome meeting, the overall theme of the five-year process is “Baptism and Incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church.” The release further stated: “This innovative trilateral forum will allow the dialogue to take up questions surrounding the theology and practice of baptism in the respective communions.” Continue reading “Baptism the focus of trilateral dialogue by Mennonites, Catholics and Lutherans”
In releasing his 2013 World Day of Peace message, Pope Benedict XVI has called for for “communitarian” not individualistic development, and insisted that true religion fosters reconciliation not fundamentalism:
It is alarming to see hotbeds of tension and conflict caused by growing instances of inequality between rich and poor, by the prevalence of a selfish and individualistic mindset which also finds expression in an unregulated financial capitalism. In addition to the varied forms of terrorism and international crime, peace is also endangered by those forms of fundamentalism and fanaticism which distort the true nature of religion, which is called to foster fellowship and reconciliation among people.
All the same, the many different efforts at peacemaking which abound in our world testify to mankind’s innate vocation to peace. In every person the desire for peace is an essential aspiration which coincides in a certain way with the desire for a full, happy and successful human life. In other words, the desire for peace corresponds to a fundamental moral principle, namely, the duty and right to an integral social and communitarian development, which is part of God’s plan for mankind. Man is made for the peace which is God’s gift.
All of this led me to draw inspiration for this Message from the words of Jesus Christ: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’ (Mt 5:9).
December 07, 2012
By Amy Worden
Philadelphia Inquirer
A Mennonite-owned cabinetmaker has filed a federal suit charging that the Affordable Care Act’s mandate on contraception coverage violates its constitutional rights.
Conestoga Wood Specialties, citing the principles of religious freedom on which William Penn founded Pennsylvania, says in its suit, filed in U.S. District Court, that to accord to its Mennonite beliefs, it would be “sinful and immoral for the company to participate in, pay for, facilitate or otherwise support any contraception” that would have the effect of an abortion.
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Because a Japanese Mennonite man was healed from leukemia after Mennonites and Catholics prayed, a new round of ecumenical dialogue on prayer is stirring up the faithful.
Exactly how God said “yes” to prayers for the healing in 1987 of Jun Yamada, a 24-year-old university student in Japan, will always be shrouded in mystery.
But that isn’t keeping participants in Bridgefolk — a group of Mennonites and Catholics united by their faith in Christ — from more deeply exploring the connection between God’s family on Earth and in heaven.
This past July at the annual Bridgefolk gathering, Alan and Eleanor Kreider — longtime Mennonite teachers on church history, worship and mission — shared the account that Jun Yamada’s brother, Nozomu Yamada, had passed on to them in Tokyo. Continue reading “Communion of saints: Miraculous healing leads to sainthood, helps Mennonites and Catholics deepen friendship”
GOSHEN, Ind. — More than 35 people from seven countries gathered at Goshen College on August 5-8, for an international consultation on the theme, “Bearing Witness: A New Martyrs Mirror for the 21 st Century?” Hosted by the college’s Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism, the international gathering explored the possibility of a major story-gathering initiative, focused especially on the theme of “costly discipleship.” Continue reading “Mennonites plan a contemporary Martyrs’ Mirror“
Saint Joseph, MN (BRIDGEFOLK) — Forty Mennonites and Catholics gathered July 26-29 at Saint Benedict’s monastery in St. Joseph,MN for the eleventh annual Bridgefolk conference.
Bridgefolk is a movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other’s traditions, explore each other’s practices, and honor each other’s contribution to the mission of Christ’s Church.
This year’s conference was the third in series on shared practices central to the Christian life and was organized around the theme, “Formed in the Word: Scripture and Peacemaking.” Keynote speakers were Michael Patella (Saint John’sAbbey) and Helmut Harder (Mennonite Church Canada), who gave presentations on Catholic and Mennonite ways of interpreting and applying Scripture.
In addition to historical traditions, the conference focused on spiritual practices of reading Scripture. Continue reading “Reading Scripture, Breaking Bread: Bridgefolk 2012”
VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 11, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the message that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope’s secretary of state, sent in the name of the Holy Father to the archbishop of Vrhbosna-Sarajevo, on the occasion of the 26th International Meeting of Prayer for Peace, organized by Sant’Egidio Community. Continue reading “Benedict XVI reaffirms interreligious “pilgrimage toward peace” in letter to Sant’Egidio meeting in September”
Caleb is a 22-year-old Navy veteran who headed to boot camp as soon as he graduated from high school and quickly found himself in Iraq, where he spent most of his time patrolling rivers. He’s also a devout Catholic; he and his wife attend Mass every week and serve as lectors at their parish. Caleb is a confident, experienced man, but when asked to speak about both of these things at once—his support for the war and his faith—he wavers. Read more.