Pope issues call for Christian unity

Pope John Paul II, in issuing a fresh initiative to promote Christian unity, has provided Protestants and Catholics a rare opportunity to work through long-standing theological differences in a modern context.

In North America, evangelicals and Catholic leaders say the pope’s invitation to examine together the role of the papal office is historic and significant. But there is disagreement on whether meaningful unity is achievable, even with the pope’s endorsement in the May 30 encyclical on Christian unity, Ut Unum Sint (“That They May Be One”). A common concern that Orthodox and Protestant believers share is opposition to the pope’s claim to a unique role in Christendom.

“The Catholic Church’s conviction that in the ministry of the Bishop of Rome she has preserved … the visible sign and guarantor of unity constitutes a difficulty for most other Christians, whose memory is marked by certain painful recollections,” the pope acknowledges. “To the extent that we are responsible for these, I join my predecessor Paul VI in asking forgiveness.”

Richard John Neuhaus, a Catholic priest and former Lutheran, now with the New York-based organization Religion and Public Life, says the statement is “historic” and “unprecedented.”

Neuhaus has formed an important link to the evangelical movement through working with Prison Fellowship’s Charles Colson. From this coalition emerged the controversial “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” (CT, March 6, 1995, p. 52).
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Posted: July 17, 1995 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6349
Categories: Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue, Opinion • In this article: Christian unity, Evangelicals, papacy, Ut Unum Sint Transmis : 17 juillet 1995 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6349
Catégorie : Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue, Opinion • Dans cet article : Christian unity, Evangelicals, papacy, Ut Unum Sint

The new Catechism and Christian unity

by Richard John Neuhaus, Theology Today 53.2 (Jul 1996): 171. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the authoritative reference or baseline for understanding Catholic faith, sacramental practice, moral doctrine, and prayer. As the title suggests, the chief purpose is catechetical, to provide a doctrinal framework from which the Church in various parts of the
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Posted: July 1, 1996 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6340
Categories: Opinion • In this article: catechism, Catholic, Christian unity, ecumenism Transmis : 1 juillet 1996 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6340
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : catechism, Catholic, Christian unity, ecumenism

Christian unity demands sacrifice of old ways

by John R. Quinn for the National Catholic Reporter 32.34 (Jul 12, 1996): 13. Following are excerpts from Archbishop John R Quinn’s lecture on June 29, 1996, at Campion Hall, Oxford. Quinn is a visiting fellow at Campion Hall. I. The challenge of John Paul II … The pope himself, in apostolic discernment, sees that
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Posted: July 12, 1996 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6345
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Christian unity, church reform, collegiality, papacy, subsidiarity Transmis : 12 juillet 1996 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6345
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Christian unity, church reform, collegiality, papacy, subsidiarity

What is truth?

by Paul Hanley, for “Urban Banter” in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix What is truth? The question has been around for a long time, but finding an answer isn’t getting any easier. The question, which was put to several speakers at an interfaith symposium at the University last Saturday, becomes more difficult to answer as society
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Posted: October 10, 1996 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6193
Categories: Opinion • In this article: dialogue, interfaith, truth Transmis : 10 octobre 1996 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6193
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : dialogue, interfaith, truth

Journey across the desert

Thirty years ago, my father, Charles Davis, then a secular priest and considered by many the leading Catholic theologian in Britain, publicly denounced the Roman Catholic Church as corrupt, and left. It was a move which sent shock waves around the Catholic world. At the same time he married my mother, then Florence Henderson, a long-standing member of the international Catholic lay women’s organisation, the Grail. They had become friends through their joint work in the ecumenical movement in Britain. She followed him in his decision to leave the Church and together they went into a form of exile, which my father, in different contexts, has often referred to as the desert. It was in the desert that my brother and I were born and raised.
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Posted: January 25, 1997 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6547
Categories: Opinion, The Tablet • In this article: Christian, Christianity, church, church reform, theology Transmis : 25 janvier 1997 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6547
Catégorie : Opinion, The Tablet • Dans cet article : Christian, Christianity, church, church reform, theology

Liberating Mary

In the furore surrounding the ex-communication of Fr Tissa Balasuriya, very little has been said about the overall project of his book, Mary and Human Liberation. Beyond specific theological questions, Fr Balasuriya’s treatment of Mary touches on issues which go to the heart of the conflict between traditionalists and reformists which is dividing the Catholic Church today.

As in so many of Christianity’s decisive theological moments, the role of Mary is pivotal. The saying, “As Mary goes, so goes the Church,” is as true today as it was of the fifth century when the Council of Ephesus affirmed Christ’s divinity by declaring Mary Theotokos, or Godbearer.
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Posted: March 8, 1997 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6554
Categories: Opinion, The Tablet • In this article: Catholic, feminist, liberation, Mary, theology Transmis : 8 mars 1997 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6554
Catégorie : Opinion, The Tablet • Dans cet article : Catholic, feminist, liberation, Mary, theology

Take Another Look … at Christian Unity

Ecumenism is not an appendix to the Church’s mission. Rather the search for Christian unity touches the very heart of what it means to be a disciple in the modern world. As Christian people, and as a Church, our ecumenical vocation calls us to examine our relationships with all who bear the name of Christ. In humility, and with integrity, we must be prepared to confess our failures and our sins of disunity, and forgive those of our Christian brothers and sisters where they have sinned against us.

These principles described above are the insight and commitment of the Catholic Church expressed at the Second Vatican Council and repeated in a number of other forums since. Our formal commitment and collected energies as a Church have strongly influenced the ecumenical agenda, and given a needed boost to the search for Christian unity in our day.
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Posted: April 30, 1997 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6336
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Christian unity, ecumenism Transmis : 30 avril 1997 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6336
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Christian unity, ecumenism

Will the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Continue in COCU?

by John A. Bolt. Reprinted from “The Presbyterian Outlook” [DALLAS] Nearly four decades of Presbyterian presence in the Consultation on Church Union (COCU) could come to an end in Syracuse as commissioners to the 209th General Assembly consider whether to proceed in the face of overwhelming presbytery rejection of the mechanism proposed to participate in
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Posted: June 19, 1997 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=4915
Categories: News, Opinion • In this article: Christian unity, church union, Consultation on Church Union, ecumenism, Presbyterian Church USA Transmis : 19 juin 1997 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=4915
Catégorie : News, Opinion • Dans cet article : Christian unity, church union, Consultation on Church Union, ecumenism, Presbyterian Church USA

Congregational Ecumenism on the Prairies

By Nicholas Jesson Growing up in Winnipeg, I had a stereotypical image of Saskatchewan and Alberta.  Albertans were cowboys and oilmen while people from Saskatchewan and rural Manitoba were all grain farmers.  Saskatchewan was flat, dull, and almost barren.  We used to joke, half seriously, that when driving west from Winnipeg one should leave in
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Posted: March 15, 1998 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6266
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Canada, ecumenism, Saskatchewan Transmis : 15 mars 1998 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6266
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Canada, ecumenism, Saskatchewan

To dialogue, or not?

Cooperation between the churches of Canada is at a significant level. We share our problems, we share our plans, we even share our resources. But what of dialogue? Are we talking about our theological perspectives as we cooperate? Or, has dialogue fallen into a secondary or tertiary importance?
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Posted: June 1, 1998 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=2231
Categories: Opinion Transmis : 1 juin 1998 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=2231
Catégorie : Opinion