Peace and Justice? Mennonite and Shiite perspectives in dialogue
Seventeen Mennonite-Christian and Shiite-Muslim scholars of religion met together for four days in Qom, Iran, to discuss the theme of peace and justice. The dialogue conference was planned and hosted May 24-27, 2009 by the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute (IKERI), under the direction of its president, Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) organized and sponsored the conference from the Mennonite side. The dialogue was the fourth in a series begun in 2002.
SEI 2009: Crisis in ecumenism related to its success
Christian unity has come a long way in the past 50 years, but there is still a long way to go in the face of many complex factors that are slowing progress, said Rev. Tom Ryan, CSP, director of the Paulist Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, based in Washington, D.C.
[Paphos, Cyprus • Zenit.org] The International Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church has progressed in its reflection on the role of the bishop of Rome. The commission issued a joint communiqué reporting on its progress at the end of its 11th plenary session, ended today in Paphos. The … Read more »… lire la suite »
The Vatican official responsible for links with other churches has rejected suggestions of a “standstill” in the search for Christian unity. “There has already been a lot of movement,” Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, told Ecumenical News International in Wittenberg, the eastern German town where in 1517, Martin Luther published his 95 Theses, thereby setting in train the breach with the papacy.
Catholic and Jewish leaders agreed at a fall dialogue that proselytism understood as coercion or manipulation is a corruption of authentic witness to one’s faith. “Any effort to lead a person to faith that tramples on human freedom betrays a lack of respect for human dignity,” said Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.
Symposium on War and Peace: Mennonites and Christian Reformed Churches discuss and discern
On Oct. 17, Bruce Adema, Director of Canadian Ministries for the bi-national Christian Reformed Church and current president of the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC), and Robert J. Suderman, General Secretary of Mennonite Church Canada hosted a Symposium on War and Peace together with the Christian Reformed Church of Canada at Bethel Mennonite Church in Winnipeg. … Read more »… lire la suite »
WCC dialogue questions relevant for Mennonites says Neufeld
How and where does the global church discuss issues such as the nature and mission of the church, sources of authority and moral discernment in the churches? One long-standing forum for important discussions such as these is the Faith and Order Plenary Commission of the World Council of Churches. This body, while not officially decision-making, gathered in Kolympari, Crete, 7-13 October 2009.
Cardinal asks dialogue partners if an ecumenical catechism might work
A Vatican official has floated the idea of a shared “ecumenical catechism” as one of the potential fruits of 40 years of dialogue among Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and members of the Reformed churches. … Read more »… lire la suite »
Catholics and Muslims Against Manipulation of Religions
The annual meeting of the Joint Committee for Dialogue of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue and the Permanent Committee of al-Azhar for Dialogue among the Monotheistic Religions, was held in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo on 23 and 24 February. … Read more »… lire la suite »
A fully integrated meeting with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) is planned to take place at the Anglican Church of Canada’s General Synod 2013 in Ottawa. … Read more »… lire la suite »