Catholics
and Methodists meet in Assisi to discuss common call to holiness
 |
| Co-chairs of the Methodist - Roman Catholic International Commission Bishop Don. |
(Vatican Radio) Catholic and Methodist leaders are gathering in
Assisi this week for a meeting of their Joint International Commission,
reflecting on ‘The Call to Holiness’ in their two different traditions.
Theological
conversations between Catholics and Methodists began just after the conclusion
of the Second Vatican Council and have already produced nine reports on areas
of belief and practise that are common to the two Churches. At the Assisi
meeting, which runs until October 17th, members of the Commission are working
towards completion of a new document on the understanding of holiness which
should be completed in 2016.
Canadian
Bishop Don Bolen and English Rev David Chapman are the respective Catholic and
Methodist co-chairs of the dialogue. They sat down with Philippa Hitchen to
talk about the history and fruits of this Commission, as well as the impact
Pope Francis is having on the ecumenical endeavour…
David: The dialogue began in the immediate aftermath of the Second
Vatican Council….the formal conversation began in 1967…..and for the World
Methodist Council, this is our most important and significant theological
dialogue…
The
Methodist churches around the world are Protestant communities, but their
historical origins begin in a desire to ‘reform the reform,’ and the way of
life in Methodism of holy living resonated with the teaching of the Catholic
Church about the universal call to holiness….we have a great deal in common
with the Catholic Church in terms of discipleship and since the 1970s the
dialogue has focused on consolidating that sense of convergence…..a particular
achievement has been that the World Methodist Council has become a co-signatory
to the Joint Document on the Doctrine of Justification between the Catholic
Church and the World Lutheran Federation….
Don: The Methodist-Catholic dialogue has kind of taken us by
surprise, we found more convergence than we thought we would find….a deep
affection has grown between members of our Churches rather easily….
The
dialogue works on 5 year cycles and has produced 9 reports - these reports
aren’t terribly well known - on increasing common agreement on the subjects
we’re addressed……I love the Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue to which much of
my life has been dedicated, but I would say there is so much expectation to
produce results and the Methodist-Catholic dialogue hasn’t lived under that
burden of expectations….
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét