Mennonite–Catholic dialogue report going to churches

Five-plus years after they first met for a formal dialogue, seven representatives from Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and seven from the Catholic Church’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity have issued a report of their conversations. Its title – “Called Together to be Peacemakers” – hints at the intention of the meetings, as well as their tone.

Mennonite World Conference is now forwarding copies of the report to all of its member churches for their “study and reaction.” The English document has been translated into French; a Spanish translation is underway.

“This Report is not a kind of Encyclical handed down from the MWC office,” explained MWC Executive Secretary Larry Miller. “Instead, it is intended to be reviewed and explored by Mennonites and Brethren in Christ around the world – from the point of view of their own contexts and convictions.” This approach allows Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches to be full players in the ongoing search “to overcome the consequences of almost five centuries of mutual isolation and hostility” (paragraph 2 of the report), which have often characterized relationships between Anabaptist-related churches and Catholic churches.

Recognizing that some MWC members “find themselves in difficult situations as a minority within predominantly Catholic societies,” Mennonite World Conference thought it essential that its member churches join the effort toward greater understanding between Catholics and Anabaptist–Mennonites, both historically and going forward.

“At this point, on the MWC side, the Report represents only the positions of the seven members of the MWC delegation to the conversations. It has not been received or approved or commented on by MWC,” said Miller. The MWC General Council will review both the Report and the responses from member churches when it meets next, in 2006.

Should Mennonites and Brethren in Christ be concerned that MWC is softening defining differences with the Catholic Church or compromising key principles? The Report itself highlights six areas that ought to have further study by each group, in order to reach fairer appraisals of their own, and each other’s, doctrines, practices, and attitudes. Extensive space is given to listing “Convergences” and “Divergences” about three major topics: “The Nature of the Church,” “Sacraments and Ordinances” (including baptism and the Lord’s Supper), and “Our Commitment to Peace.”

“As a ‘peace church,’ honest and careful conversation with ‘adversaries’ should be the normal thing for us to do. Yet, we haven’t done that with the Catholic Church at the international level since the beginning of the Anabaptist–Catholic conflict,” says Miller. “I hope that this exchange at the international level will be useful for Mennonites and Catholics who desire to build good relationships at the national and local levels. By God’s grace, it will be.”

—Phyllis Pellman Good, for MWC