A recent article in the Catholic weekly magazine America assesses by Christopher Ruddy, “Our Ecumenical Future” suggested ways for Catholic bishops to promote Christian unity. The article makes positive mention of Bridgefolk and is available online at http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12544.
Here is an excerpt, in which Ruddy makes four suggestions about how ecumenical dialogue can move forward:
The primary ecumenical task should be a renewed emphasis on the primacy of prayer. Spiritual ecumenism is, in the words of Vatican II, the “soul” of ecumenism, for it alone enables deep and lasting conversion and communion. And at the heart of prayer is an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ. It is telling that Pope Benedict devoted his homily for the closing of the 2010 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity to St. Paul’s encounter with the risen Lord, an encounter that gave rise to Paul’s evangelizing mission. Perhaps a “Petrine” ecumenism, centered on matters of authority and office, needs to be complemented by an ecumenism attentive to the Pauline (evangelical), Johannine (mystical-sacramental) and Marian (contemplative-receptive) dimensions of ecclesial life. Dialogue with other Christians must always be preceded and sustained by a dialogue with Christ.
Second, such ecumenical prayer might flourish in a monastic setting of hospitality. The Bridgefolk project of Catholics and Mennonites meets regularly at St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota for prayer and theological dialogue. The Catholic and Lutheran bishops of Minnesota have for over 30 years met annually for a two-day retreat. These experiences of prayer open up relationships and insights that would be difficult, even impossible, to realize in other ecumenical contexts.
Third, a recommitment to spiritual ecumenism will help deepen theological dialogue. This would not be a retreat from theological reflection, which remains essential. Many of our bilateral and multilateral dialogues have accomplished great good; the Joint Declaration on Justification, for instance, was made possible in large part by decades of work by the U.S. Lutheran-Catholic dialogue. A call to prayer is not a flight into escapism or mindless sentimentality, but rather the wellspring of the deepest, most fruitful theological inquiry.
Fourth, Cardinal Kasper’s suggestion in February 2010 at a symposium, titled “Harvesting the Fruits,” for an ecumenical catechism points to an erosion of classical commitments among some in the Christian churches. His comments echo those of Father Tillard on the “fragmentation of faith in Christ” as well as those he himself made during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2005. Cardinal Kasper notes that an “ecumenism of basics” is needed to ensure that ecumenical dialogue builds on the solid ground of Scripture and tradition. One consequence for the bishops’ conference might be building relationships and dialogues with Christians across confessional boundaries who adhere to what might be called a Nicene Christianity.