Fr. Gregory Fairbanks on dialogue and unity

Fr. Gregory J. Fairbanks

Fr. Gregory Fairbanks has responsibilities for relationships with ecclesial communities of the West in his role as an official with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. In that connection he was one of our dialogue partners in the conversations between the Baptist World Alliance and the Catholic Church in which I participated from 2006 through 2010. (The report from those conversations, The Word of God in the Life of the Church, is available online on the Vatican web site.) In comments offered to the Catholic News Service for its May 8 story "Hope and hard work: U.S. priest trusts Christian unity is possible," Fr. Fairbanks reflects on these conversations in testifying to the surprising work of the unifying Spirit that can emerge from honest dialogue between divided Christian communities. Here's an excerpt from the beginning of the article:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The issues dividing Christian communities have changed over the past 50 years, but a Philadelphia archdiocesan priest working in ecumenical dialogue at the Vatican is confident that Christian unity is possible.

"We are people of hope. We trust we have the same Scriptures, the same belief in Christ," said Msgr. Gregory J. Fairbanks, an official at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.... (read the full article at Catholic News Service)