For relations with the Mennonites the Pontifical Council for Promoting
Christian Unity is in contact with the Mennonite World Conference which
has its headquarters in Strasbourg, France. Mennonites are part of the
anabaptist family stemming from the Reformation. They adopted views that
were more radical than the magisterial reformers such as Zwingli and
Luther at the time of the sixteenth century. For example, they called
for complete separation of Church and State, they were against infant
Baptism. Those Christians who followed their way would be re-baptized
(thus the designation "anabaptist"). They were therefore in
conflict not only with the Catholic Church, but with the reformers as
well, who explicitely condemned some of their views.
Today the communities in various countries who adhere to the
Mennonite World Conference comprise about one million baptized members.
Some of their larger communities are found in the USA, in India, in
Indonesia, and in various countries of Africa.
A common position on our attitudes towards peace
An international dialogue between the Mennonite World Conference and
the Catholic Church began in 1998. Its fourth meeting recently took
place in Assisi, 27 November - 3 December 2001. The setting was
important because Mennonites see some of their roots in the spiritual
movements of the Middle Ages. One morning the dialogue group of fourteen
persons visited sites in Assisi that are closely associated with the
life of St Francis, such as the carcere, the churches of San Damiano,
and of Santa Maria degli Angeli, and this was an important aspect of the
meeting.
From its beginning the dialogue has followed two tracks. One is a
contemporary track, in which the two have explored together their
respective views of the church, seeking to find areas of agreement, or
at least convergence, as well as understanding clearly those issues on
which they disagree. A variety of questions have been explored. The
Assisi meeting dealt with the notion of sacraments (Mennonites prefer to
use the term ordinances), particularly Baptism, which was a major issue
at the time of the Reformation, and the Eucharist. The previous year
papers were given on the question: "What is a Peace Church?".
The importance of this latter point stems from the fact that Mennonites
are among those known as the "historic peace churches" and
have been characteristically pacifist in their approach to peace. This
question of the contribution that the church can make to peace may be
one in which this dialogue can make a particular contribution. Given the
strong witness today of the Catholic Church to peace, as reflected
especially in the Second Vatican Council's Gaudium et spes,
and in statements and Encyclicals since then, especially those of
Pope John Paul II, it will be interesting to see how close Mennonite and
Catholic views might come, towards a common position on their attitude
towards peace, enabling them to give some common witness in this regard.
A clarification on history opens door to reconciliation
There has also been, secondly, an historical track. This aspect, also
together with the contemporary track, underscores the hope that the
dialogue can contribute to a healing of memories between Mennonites and
Catholics. The historical questions addressed in the various sessions of
the dialogue up to now have been far reaching. They have covered, for
example, the implications for Christian life and witness of the "Constantinian
shift" starting in the fourth and fifth centuries when Christianity
moved from being a persecuted church, to a church with a prominent place
in the empire. They include also the tragic conflicts of the sixteenth
century and the bitter memories which have persisted since then. At the
Assisi meeting, the historical papers focused on the relations between
Church and State in the Middle Ages. Each side brings to this discussion
its own history, experience and memory of these and other events and,
because they have been set deeply in place by centuries of separation,
frequently in sharp contrast to the views of the other. The dialogue,
once again, can make a contribution towards reconciliation if it enables
the two sides to offer together in their report some clarification on
these and other episodes of history from today's ecumenical perspective,
free of the polemics of the sixteenth century.
Before the Assisi meeting, Mennonite members of the dialogue visited
Rome over a three-day period. They had discussions at the Pontifical
Councils for Promoting Christian Unity, for Interreligious Dialogue, and
for Justice and Peace. They toured St Peter's Basilica and the Scavi
beneath it, visited the Sistine Chapel and the Redemptoris Mater Chapel,
as well as the Centro Pro Unione, and the Centro
Uno. These personal contacts, too, are valuable and make their own
contribution, above and beyond the dialogue, to fostering a deeper
understanding of one another.
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