The purpose of this conference is to initiate an ecumenical study of the persecution and martyrdom of the sixteenth-century Anabaptists.
Memories of these events are definitional for the Mennonite community, and thus confronting this history is a fundamental issue in both the Mennonite-Catholic and Mennonite-Lutheran ecumenical dialogues now taking place.
In the Catholic and Lutheran communities, including their scholarly communities, these events have received very little attention and are largely unknown. Their importance for the Anabaptist-origin Churches is largely unappreciated.
If substantial dialogue is to continue, these historical events will have to be dealt with in a way that is satisfactory to the successors both of those who were persecuted, and those responsible for these martyr deaths.
Achieving this will require:
§ Historical research—who were the victims and the perpetrators; what exactly occurred; when and where did it take place; and why did it occur?
§ Historical analysis, placing these events in the context of other events occurring at the time.
§ Theological analysis to determine the meaning of these martyr deaths from the perspective of Christian belief.
§ Ecumenical dialogue devoted to finding ways currently existing Churches can deal with the legacy these events have left us.
Accomplishing these tasks will require a substantial effort, involving numerous persons and institutions, and extending over a period of years.
This initial meeting brings together a group of persons already engaged in one or more of these tasks. Its purpose is to acquaint them with each other’s work; to begin work on all the tasks involved; and to lay plans for a long-range effort that can attract substantial funding from foundations and other institutions.