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E-mail: cecmotc@juno.com
website: dodone.orgApril 11, 2001
See also Presbyterian ApostasyPresbyterian group at Vatican for talks - from Louisville, KY THE RECORD, 3/29/01
By John Thavis, Catholic News
Addressing members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Pope John Paul II said the 'Catholic Church remains committed to ecumenical dialogue to overcoming the barriers that still separate Christian communities.
The pope spoke March 22 during an audience with the Presbyterian delegation, which was in Rome for talks with officials of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
The talks were a continuation of discussions held in Louisville last Dec. 7 and 8 between representatives of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy, retired president of the pontifical council. These talks, held at the Presbyterian Church Headquarters in Louisville, centered on a paper, "The Successor to Peter."
Pope John Paul said that despite significant ecumenical steps in recent decades, all Christians must acknowledge that there is still a long way to go on the path to visible unity. Unfortunately, he said, some historical divisions have been carried into the new millennium.
"May we see the future now opening up before us as a summons from the Lord to be increasingly renewed in the spirit of our minds, putting on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness," he said.
In a statement issued at the Vatican March 24, the Presbyterian and Vatican representatives said their talks had focused on various aspects of the pope's ministry, including primacy and collegiality.
'From this discussion and other dialogues, we find that there are many aspects of faith and practice which we share,' the statement said.
The group said it also examined the differences that remain, including their "understanding of the nature of the church and the locus of its authority," the often negative judgments made against one another in history, and especially the understanding and practice of the bishop's ministry.
The statement suggested areas for further exploration in dialogue:
The possibility of participation by Reformed churches in the ecumenical consensus on the doctrine of justification, building on the recent Catholic-Lutheran agreement.
The possibility of mutual recognition of the sacrament of baptism.
Continuing study of the events of the 16th and 17th centuries that led to ecumenical divisions. Both sides said they hoped it would be possible to declare that "the pejorative statements made against one another in the past are not in keeping with our views of each other today."
The role of the papacy has been a major topic of ecumenical discussion since Pope John Paul asked other churches to reflect on the issue in his 1995 encyclical, "That They May Be One."
The Vatican side was led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, newly appointed head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The Presbyterian delegation included 15 members. Three ecumenical observers also attended, representing the Reformed Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has about 2.7 million members and is the chief U.S. Presbyterian body. It was created in 1983 by the merger of the main Presbyterian churches in the United States.
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