The Catholic Church in Canada has agreed to begin a formal theological dialogue with Evangelicals.

"It's a new thing in Canada," said Margaret O'Gara, a theology professor at Toronto's University of St. Michael's College who has been involved in Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox dialogue for the past 35 years. She will be among the Catholic participants.

"We all have the expectation that this will be a personally enriching experience and that, hopefully, we will contribute to the strength of the Church in Canada," said David Freeman, who is strategic interface vice president for the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada.

Freeman will be the Evangelical co-chair of the dialogue, with Regina Archbishop Daniel Bohan as the Catholic co-chair.

The first set of meetings will take place March 24-25 in Toronto.

Archbishop Daniel Bohan and Bishop Gregory Kerr-Wilson at the ecumenical service for the signing of the new covenant. Photo by Frank Flegel (Prairie Messenger).

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina and the Anglican Diocese of Qu'Appelle have entered into a covenant committing themselves to prayer together and for each other, to work together for justice, peace, and aboriginal reconciliation and healing, and to consult regularly where developments affect the other. Archbishop Daniel Bohan and Bishop Gregory Kerr-Wilson signed the covenant on behalf of their churches in a joint worship service on Sunday, January 23rd at St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral in Regina.

The full text of the covenant can be found on the websites of the two dioceses.

The covenant was developed to mark the 125th anniversary of the Anglican diocese and the 100th anniversary of the Roman Catholic archdiocese, celebrated over the past year. The close friendship between the bishops of the two churches goes back at least 40 years since Archbishop Frederic Jackson and Archbishop Michael Cornelius O'Neill began regular meetings in 1970.

The covenant is not simply a commitment between the two bishops, it also calls for the parishes and other ministries of each church to engage with each other in a variety of new ways. Drawing upon the work of an international Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue text Growing Together in Unity and Mission, the bishops affirmed:

"we have only just begun to give tangible expression to the incontrovertible elements of shared faith" (§7). In that document, we express our conviction that "it is the time to bridge the gap between the elements of faith we hold in common and the tangible expression of that shared belief in our ecclesial lives" (§10). "Even in a time of uncertainty, the mission given us by Christ obliges and compels us to seek to engage more deeply and widely in a partnership in mission, coupled with common witness and joint prayer" (§7).

Looking forward to a larger covenant

Recognizing the close relationship that already exists between Lutherans and Anglicans, and mindful of the opportunities for ecumenical renewal that this covenant presents, the bishops extend an invitation to the Saskatchewan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and to the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon, as well as to the other Anglican and Roman Catholic dioceses in Saskatchewan, to enter into a broader multilateral covenantal relationship. Work towards a multilateral covenant will begin soon.