History of Catholic-Mennonite Dialogue

For much of the 500 years of Anabaptism, the relationship between Catholics and Mennonites might be described as bitter, at times hostile – especially in those eras when Catholics, and other Christians, hunted or otherwise persecuted Anabaptists – and kept quite deliberately separate.[1] Swiss Brethren, German Hutterites, Dutch Mennonites, Old Order Amish, and other Anabaptists were often forced to escape persecutions brought against them by officials of either church or state. They fled in various waves to Russia, the Baltics, to Africa, Oceania, and to North and South America, always in search of greater religious freedom and peace. Only in the 20th century, with the development of the contemporary Ecumenical Movement, did Catholics and Anabaptists begin to meet and to discuss theological similarities and differences or to work together on missionary endeavours and projects of common interest.

A fascinating essay from 1999 published by the Mennonite Historical Society elucidates a detailed history of Mennonite-Catholic conversations in North America. It cites these conversations as a “remarkable ecumenical event,” and identifies five main factors that have led to greater rapprochement between the churches, namely:

1. Internationalization: the shift of Christian influence to Asia, Africa, and Latin America, increased encounters between Catholics and Mennonites in developing parts of the world,the  establishment of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) in 1925 (marking the 400th anniversary of Anabaptism), engagement of Mennonites and Catholics within international ecumenical structures (e.g. the World Council of Churches), and mutual invitations to each other’s international gatherings.
2. Shift from dogmatic to historical intellectual perspective: inviting Catholic and Mennonite scholars/learners to explore the development of each other’s teachings and traditions.
3. The democratization of society: “The near universal adoption of democracy and human rights throughout the world in this century (at least in principle) has fundamentally changed the context within which Mennonite-Catholic conversations occur.”
4. Liturgical and spiritual changes: liturgical reforms of Vatican II, widespread and rapidly growing adoption of pre-Reformation liturgical practices in Mennonite congregations, discovery/rediscovery of spiritual authors within both traditions, retreats, spiritual direction, charismatic renewal, and a new paradigm of missionary activity.
5. Convergence regarding the morality/immorality of warfare: a post-WWII reappraisal of “Just War” theory, witnessing the effects of technological warfare, and a common movement toward a proactive peace position.

In the 1980s, Catholics and Mennonites began to engage one another through intellectual exchanges taking place in various post-secondary institutions around the world, especially in the United States and Canada. It is interesting to note the role that Canadian universities and colleges, such as St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto, and the pairing of St. Jerome’s College and Conrad Grebel College at the University of Waterloo, had to play in these early discussions and encounters.

In 1986, the executive secretary of the MWC was invited to and participated in the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi called by Pope John Paul II. This engagement led to reciprocal invitations for Vatican officials to attend MWC gatherings in Calcutta (1997) and Strasbourg (1998). Mennonite leaders subsequently attended the Catholic-led Jubilee Year 2000 events in Rome and other Day of Prayer for Peace events held in Assisi (2002, 2011, 2016).

A formal international dialogue engaging representatives of the Catholic Church and the Mennonite World Conference began in 1998 and concluded in 2003 with the publication of the groundbreaking report: Called Together to be Peacemakers (CTP). It stated that:

The general purpose of the dialogue was to learn to know one another better, to promote better understanding of the positions on Christian faith held by Catholics and Mennonites, and to contribute to the overcoming of prejudices that have long existed between them (#15).

To this end, the dialogue undertook study in three main areas reflected in the CTP report under the headings:

1. Considering History Together explores the content and context of church history during the period of the Reformation and its aftermath, through the centuries of separation and to the present. “Christians can take responsibility for the past. They can name the errors in their history, repent of them, and work to correct them” (#27).
2. Considering Theology Together explores medieval and contemporary traditions of spirituality and discipleship, ecclesiology, sacraments and ordinances (especially baptism), social teachings of the church, and a common commitment to peacemaking. “Our theological dialogue was motivated by the commonly acknowledged biblical mandate, which calls for believers in Christ to be one so that the world may believe in the unity of the Father and the Son (John 17:20-23), and for the Church to pursue the goal of ‘speaking the truth in love’ (Ephesians 4:16) and ‘building itself up in love’ (Ephesians 4:17)” (# 69).
3. Toward a Healing of Memories calls upon all Catholics and all Mennonites, in penitence and humility, to engage one another in the difficult and challenging work of purifying memories, “to move beyond the isolation of the past, and to consider concrete steps toward new relations” (#191).

Each section of CTP presents “Areas for Further Study” and an abridged version of the report, published in 2005 by Pandora Press, offered embedded study questions and full “Study Plans” for local groups of Catholics and Mennonites to engage in this work concretely. In Canada, concerted studies certainly took place in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and perhaps other jurisdictions as well.

Bridgefolk

The most significant body to take up the challenge of Catholic-Mennonite dialogue is the North American group called Bridgefolk:

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.

Co-founded by theologians Gerald Schlabach and Ivan Kauffman, and formally embraced as a movement by the community of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, Bridgefolk provides a meeting place (both virtual and physical) for Mennonites and Catholics to learn from and about one another, and to engage one another “in deep-level conversation and shared worship.” The movement hosts an annual summer gathering that invites Catholics and Mennonites from around the continent to retreat together and to reflect on some aspect of spirituality or a particular theme that resonates with the ethos of the dialogue. In their own words:

We have sung together, prayed together, shared our stories and our spiritual pilgrimages, explained our differing traditions, washed each other’s feet, and shared our anguish at being divided at the communion table. It has been an encounter that has left all participants changed in some way. For many of us it has truly seemed like a miracle, seeing something that looked so improbable just a few years ago become a regular event in our lives, something we look forward to from year to year.

Having attended the summer Bridgefolk Conference in 2017, I can testify personally to the transformative nature of at least four Bridgefolk ritual practices that marked me deeply and that have enriched the ecumenical experience within my local church. These are:

• A shared Catholic-Mennonite Rite of Footwashing
• Communal hymn singing: See “The Ecumenical Mountain”: Homily by Fr. Rene McGraw, OSB (in memory of Canadian ecumenist/theologian, Dr. Margaret O’Gara)
• Active participation in ecumenical gift exchange- See Eucharistic Peacemaking: We Are Each Other’s Bread and Wine
• Meditating upon a specifically Catholic and Mennonite Litany of Witnesses

A great debt is owed to the profoundly innovative and faith-filled theologians, pastors, and lay participants of the Bridgefolk Movement who have advanced and concretized the specific ecumenical strengths of Catholic-Mennonite dialogue.

Contemporary Dialogue

Catholics and Mennonites engage one another today through various networks (e.g. Sant’Egidio, Pax Christi, Caritas Internationalis, Mennonite Central Committee) and ministries of common interest (e.g. prison/restorative justice ministries, refugee sponsorship/settlement, Indigenous-Settler reconciliation efforts, international development work, Habitat for Humanity). Always in the background of such initiatives are profound reflections on Matthew 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount, especially The Beatitudes) and Matthew 25 (Parable of the Sheep and the Goats), and the call (and challenge) to put Christian faith into action.

In 2007, an international conference of Catholics and Mennonites made a joint submission to the World Council of Churches’ Decade to Overcome Violence, calling upon both churches and all Christians to re-double efforts toward ecumenical learning and reconciliation, the healing of memories, and peacemaking, and to celebrate and study recent ecumenical breakthroughs between Catholics and Anabaptists “with the hope of learning from these initiatives and building on them.”

In 2020, a Lutheran-Mennonite-Roman Catholic trilateral commission issued a final report entitled, Baptism and Incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church. This report focuses specifically on commonalities and differences in the theology and practice of baptism within each tradition, concluding that “some of the differences are not contradictory but rather acceptable variations of perspective and that some of the differences in practice or in the living out of baptism may be complementary, even mutually enriching” (#161). All parties are challenged to consider deeply the implications of this insight toward greater reconciliation and increased communion with one another through the “gift of their ‘one baptism’… into the ‘one body’ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (#163).

As Catholic and Mennonite (and now Lutheran) Christians continue to develop these insights and engage in the many specific initiatives that mark Catholic-Mennonite dialogue today, it seems a most significant and promising sign to read Pope Leo XIV’s first ecumenical message (on 29 May 2025) addressed to “Participants in the Commemoration of 500 years of the Anabaptist movement” in Zurich. Pope Leo writes:

By receiving the Lord’s peace, and accepting his call, which includes being open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the followers of Jesus can immerse themselves in the radical newness of Christian faith and life. Indeed, such a desire for renewal characterizes the Anabaptist movement itself.

Increasingly, it appears to me, so too does it characterize the contemporary desire for renewal within our Catholic Church as well.

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[1] I recall another occasion of dialogue when we were reflecting on that great compendium of Christian martyrdom over the centuries – Martyrs Mirror – realizing with shock and silence how many celebrated martyrs of the Anabaptist traditions were made such by zealous and devout Catholic and Protestant Christians eager to stamp out the perceived heresies of the “Radical Reformation.” A helpful guide and corrective to all of this, is Martyrdom in an Ecumenical Perspective: A Mennonite-Catholic Conversation, edited by Peter C. Erb (Kitchener: Pandora Press, 2007).

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Julien Hammond has been the ecumenical officer for the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton for over twenty years. He has served as a member of the Roman Catholic-United Church of Canada Dialogue, the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue in Canada, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)-Roman Catholic International Consultation. He is currently a member of the Jewish-Catholic national dialogue, co-sponsored by the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.