Creighton symposium on Unitatis Redintegratio; Baptist-Methodist dialogue continues

This Saturday I will speak at Creighton University's symposium on the Vatican II Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio along with William Rusch, former executive director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Office for Ecumenical Affairs and former director of the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches and now adjunct professor of Lutheran studies at Yale Divinity School, and Fr. John Crossin, executive director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The symposium is part of a three-year series on Celebrating the Legacy of Vatican II commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Council. A Creighton University press release provides details and links to additional information about the symposium and series.

Meanwhile, the second session of the international bilateral ecumenical dialogue between the Baptist World Alliance and the World Methodist Council is meeting in Singapore February 5-10. This year's round of conversations focuses on theological issues such as the nature of the church, the nature of authority, sanctification and justification. A Baptist World Alliance press release issued yesterday includes additional information and a roster of the Baptist and Methodist delegation members.

Happy 50th birthday, Unitatis Redintegratio

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of Unitatis Redintegratio (Latin for "the repair of unity"), the Decree on Ecumenism issued by the Second Vatican Council on November 21, 1964. Here's a brief summary of the significance of this decree from a previous publication:

After acknowledging that "division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching to Gospel to every creature," the decree recognizes the modern ecumenical movement that began among Protestants as nothing less than the work of God....This Decree on Ecumenism was the major twentieth-century turning point in the progress of the quest for Christian unity. It acknowledged that all the churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, share responsibility for their contributions to the present divisions. It explicitly affirmed that non-Catholic Christians experience the grace of God through the presence of Christ and the work of the Spirit in Christian communities that are outside the Roman Catholic Church....The decree called for all Catholics, clergy and laity alike, to learn about and learn from the distinctive gifts that the other denominational traditions contribute to the body of Christ. It irrevocably committed the Roman Catholic Church to participation in the various forms of the worldwide ecumenical movement, and thus it also opened the way for many other denominations to follow through on their own ecumenical convictions by entering into formal dialogue with Roman Catholicism. -- From Steven R. Harmon, Ecumenism Means You, Too: Ordinary Christians and the Quest for Christian Unity (Eugene, Ore.: Cascade Books, 2010)

Various commemorations of this anniversary are underway and forthcoming. I'm looking forward to speaking at one such event, a symposium on Unitatis Redintegratio at Creighton University on February 7, 2015, at which I will offer reflections on the significance of this document and its implications for the ecumenical future along with Fr. John Crossin of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and William Rusch, former executive director of the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches (USA). In the meantime, I hope readers of Ecclesial Theology will join me in marking today's anniversary by praying for the unity of Christ's church and reading the text of the Decree on Ecumenism, which makes for edifying devotional reading for all Christians.

Journal of Ecumenical Studies on "The Ecumenical Legacy of the Second Vatican Council, 50 Years Later"

Yesterday I received the latest issue of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies (vol. 48, no. 2; Spring 2013). This issue features a special section on "The Ecumenical Legacy of the Second Vatican Council, 50 Years Later" that publishes the plenary addresses delivered at the annual conference of the North American Academy of Ecumenists in Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 21-23, 2012. I'm looking forward to a prolonged feast of reading and reflecting on these articles, and I hope other readers of Ecclesial Theology who can get access to this issue (check the current periodicals holdings of the nearest seminary or university library; subscription information here) will join me.

Here is a listing of the contents of this section:

• "Introduction" by Sr. Dr. Lorelei F. Fuchs, Research Assistant, National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA, and President of the North American Academy of Ecumenists
• "The Ecumenical Legacy of the Second Vatican Council: Reflections of an Accidental Ecumenist" by Rev. Dr. Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, Professor of Worship, School of Theology of Boston University
• "The Legacy of the Second Vatican Council: An Orthodox Perspective" by Dr. Despina D. Prassas, Assistant Professor of Theology, Providence College
• "The Ecumenical Legacy of the Second Vatican Council: A Disciples Perspective" by Rev. Dr. Robert K Welsh, President of the Council on Christian Unity of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
• "The Second Vatican Council: The Legacy Viewed through Methodist Eyes" by Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Wainwright, Cushman Chair of Christian Theology (retired), Duke University Divinity School
• "Memories of Vatican II" by Rev. Dr. William A. Norgren, priest, Episcopal Church USA and former director of the National Council of Churches' Faith and Order Commission during Vatican II
• "Do We Need a Vatican III or an Eighth Ecumenical Council?" By Rev. Dr. William G. Rusch, former Director of the Commissionon Faith and Order of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA