Vatican publishes summary of 60 years of Catholic-Methodist dialogue

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Celebrating almost six decades of Catholic-Methodist theological dialogue, the Vatican publishing house has released a book summarizing the issues dialogue members have agreed on and briefly outlined the issues where work is ongoing.

The book, “We Believe in One God: 60 Years of Methodists and Catholics Walking Together,” is based on the results of 11 reports produced by the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission since its formal dialogue began back in 1967.

The reports explore topics such as baptism, holiness, Scripture and tradition, Eucharist, the nature and mission of the church and the call to visible communion.

The Rev. Edgardo A. Colón-Emeric, dean of Duke University Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina, and the dialogue’s Methodist co-chair, and Archbishop Shane Mackinlay of Brisbane, Australia, the Catholic co-chair, wrote in the introduction that while leaders and theologians of both communities welcomed the 11 reports, their content is not really known among most Catholics or Methodists.

“During the year in which Christians mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea — the first attempt to reach consensus amongst the early Christian communities — the publication is designed as ‘a gift to all the churches, as they affirm their faith in the Triune God and reflect on the next stages of the quest for Christian unity,'” said a press release from the Methodist Ecumenical Office in Rome.

The book cites “remarkable convergence” on “the central question of the Eucharist,” the press release said, “with Methodists increasingly ‘recognizing that the Lord’s Table belongs to the fulness of Christian worship, while Catholics are appreciating the fundamental importance of preaching the Word.'”

In the new book, as in the dialogues themselves, the press release said, issues “including the ordination of women, same-sex marriage, contraception and abortion, are raised in a thoughtful way, highlighting the need for further study in order to find paths forward to a deeper consensus.”

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