NEWS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference (MWC)
For Immediate Release
September 23, 1998
STRASBOURG, France – Nearly five hundred years after they separated, Mennonites and Roman Catholics will be sitting down together to talk.
“Toward a Healing of the Memories” is the name of a dialogue scheduled for October 14-18 in Strasbourg, France. Six Mennonites, led by Helmut Harder, theologian and general secretary of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada, will begin conversation with representatives from one of the world’s oldest and most powerful churches.
Other members of the Mennonite World Conference appointed delegation are Neal Blough (France), Mario Higueros (Guatemala), Andrea Lange (Germany), Howard J. Loewen (USA), Nzash Lumeya (Congo), and Larry Miller (France).
The Roman Catholic Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity is appointing the Catholic representatives. The council’s efforts are an extension of conversations with other churches begun under Vatican II.
“It is necessary to converse as Christians,” said Miller, executive secretary of Mennonite World Conference. “Honest conversation between Christians is not an option we might choose but a biblical imperative we want to obey.”
Miller points out the importance of this discussion for many MWC member churches. In a number of parts of the world, Mennonites and Brethren in Christ live as small minorities in large Catholic majorities. In many of these communities, there is significant interaction between the two groups, said Miller. “An increasing number of these relationships are developing in congenial and mutually beneficial ways, but others remain conflictual.”
According to Harder, the Strasbourg conversation will include an “examination of representative Catholic statements that contained charges against Anabaptists and their long-term effect on Catholic attitudes towards Anabaptists and Mennonites.” Consideration will be given to questions like: How do we move towards a healing of memories? Who needs healing? What requires healing? Are the old wounds generating new ones? What will contribute to a better future attitude and relationship between Catholics and Mennonites? The question of whether there should be additional meetings is also on the Strasbourg agenda.
There has been some interaction between the two groups already. A representative from the Vatican was an observer at MWC’s world assembly in Calcutta.
–Marshall V. King for MWC News Service