Category: News

Mennonite firm sues over Obamacare contraception coverage

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.

Click here to read entire story

 

Communion of saints: Miraculous healing leads to sainthood, helps Mennonites and Catholics deepen friendship

by Laurie Oswald Robinson

Mennonite World Review

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.

Jun Yamada presents relics of Joseph Freinademetz to Pope John Paul II in the service of canonization for Freinademetz on Oct. 5, 2003, in Rome. — Photo by Society of the Divine Word

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” →

Mennonites plan a contemporary Martyrs’ Mirror

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“ →

Reading Scripture, Breaking Bread: Bridgefolk 2012

Bridgefolk co-chairs Abbot John Klassen and Rev. Marlene Kropf.

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” →

Benedict XVI reaffirms interreligious “pilgrimage toward peace” in letter to Sant’Egidio meeting in September

“Peace needs to be supported by hearts and minds that seek truth”

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” →

Catholic youth conflicted about war, reports US Catholic magazine

Conflicted generation: Millennials and the war on terror
by Ruth Graham
US Catholic, August 21, 2012

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.

 

Mennonite Church USA reports on 2012 Bridgefolk conference

Mennonite Church USA has published the following report on the 2012 Bridgefolk conference:

Roughly forty people, Mennonites and Catholics, gathered for three days of fellowship, study and worship in July, hosted by the sisters of St. Benedict Monastery in Minnesota. The group explored the formative practice of studying and praying with scripture in the two traditions. The group also engaged in ongoing discernment around Eucharist. As is the pattern at each gathering, the group participated in an agape meal, which included footwashing. The group also celebrated a “Double Eucharist.” A presider from each tradition gave a homily and then led in the ritual. Each group prayerfully observed but did not partake in the other’s ritual. The group spent several hours reflecting and sharing together about this experience. To learn more about the Bridgefolk movement visit www.bridgefolk.net.

Fall semester marks beginning of two new Catholic-Mennonite collaborations

EMU and Catholic Do Joint Engineering Program

Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) has partnered with Catholic University of America (CUA) for a new dual degree program that will prepare students to pursue peacebuilding and sustainability through engineering.  Read more.

Mennonite, Catholic high schools to merge some music activities

Come September, Lancaster Mennonite High School students will be high-stepping across the football field alongside their Lancaster Catholic High School Crusaders marching band peers.  Read more.

Margaret O’Gara, R.I.P.

Margaret O’Gara, Professor of Theology at the University of St. Michael’s College, entered the realm of eternal life on Thursday, August 16, at age 65, after suffering from cancer for two years.

The characteristic aim of Margaret’s 37 years of work as a theologian was to foster dialogue among Christians for the sake of overcoming divisions between the churches. Besides her teaching, research, writing, and extensive public lecturing, she was a member of official ecumenical dialogues in Canada, the United States, and at the international level. She also served as president of the North American Academy of Ecumenists and the Catholic Theological Society of America.  From 2009 to 2012 she served on the board of Bridgefolk.

Margaret’s unusual effectiveness in these professional arenas came from a combination of her scholarly rigor, her exceptional ability to listen sympathetically, her uncommon energy, and her contagious delight at the growth of mutual understanding and friendship. The same traits marked her strong personal relationships with her students and colleagues, the members of her extended family, and her many longstanding friends. Beneath everything else, the fundamental driving force of her life was her deep and abiding Christian faith.

Visitation at Rosar-Morrison Funeral Home, 467 Sherbourne Street in Toronto, on Wednesday, August 22, from 2:00 to 9:00pm, with a prayer service at 7:30pm. Funeral mass at St. Basil’s Church on Thursday, August 23, at 10:30am. Burial in Breckenridge, Minnesota.