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  • 2013 Articles

    Journal Articles of Note on Ecumenism as of November 30, 2013

    Francis, Pope. “Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue.” Origins 43:22 (October 31, 2013): 354-355.  
    The pope’s greetings to the Lutheran-Roman Catholic International Dialogue group, October 21, 2013, expresses gratitude for the advances in dialogue, cooperative work in pastoral settings, and progress in spiritual ecumenism and addresses the upcoming 500th anniversary of the Reformation (2017): “I believe that it is truly important for everyone to confront in dialogue the historical reality of the Reformation, its consequences and the responses it elicited. Catholics and Lutherans can ask forgiveness for the harm they have caused one another and for their offenses committed in the sight of God. Together we can rejoice in the longing for unity that the Lord has awakened in our hearts, and which makes us look with hope to the future” (p. 355).

    Gros, Jeffrey, FSC. “Church: Hope and Grace.” Ecumenical Trends 42:9 (October 2013): 130-133.
    The renowned Roman Catholic ecumenist, writing just before his death in August, reflects on the World Council of Churches’ new convergence document The Church: Towards a Common Vision: analyzing it for the American context, providing advice on how individual American churches might address the reception questions raised in the text, and finally suggesting how the text might be used in theological education and formation.

    Kessler, Diane C. “Spiritual Roots, Practical Fruits: Insights from One Study in the Joint Working Group Ninth Report.” Ecumenical Trends 42:9 (October 2013): 134-136, 142.
    A Protestant member of the Joint Working Group summarizes the content of Appendix B of the Ninth Report of the Working Group, a 25-page document entitled “Be Renewed in the Spirit: The Spiritual Roots of Ecumenism,” highlighting the practical implementation suggestions of the report and providing examples in recent ecumenical life. She writes that the document “recognizes that when Christian ground our daily lives as individuals and as churches in the Christian spiritual disciplines, we open ourselves to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit” (p. 142).

    Lathrop, Gordon W. “Sacrosanctum Concilium and the Augsburg Confession in Dialogue: One Ecumenical Reading of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.” Worship 87:6 (November 2013): 548-563.
    A Lutheran liturgical theologian offers a dialogue of affirmation and admonition with the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, calling on the Roman Catholic Church to continue to implement the constitution, to reconsider the sacrifice of the Mass language, to revise the spousal imagery for the church, and, most importantly, to address the constitution’s “mixed message” around the use of the term “church.”

    Oakes, Edward T., SJ. “Christ our Center.” Books & Culture 19:6 (November/December 2013): 11-14.
    Second of a two-part series of papers on Christology from at the first Lausanne Catholic-Evangelical Conversation on the centrality of Christ, held at Mundelein Seminary April 18-20, 2013. The first, Hans Boersma’s “The Real Presence of Hope & Love: The Christocentric Legacy of Benedict XVI,” was published in the September/October issue of Books & Culture.

    Ryan, Thomas. “Unity Because.” Ecumenism #186 (Summer 2013): 12-16.
    This accessible apologia on the search for Christian unity offers five imperatives of unity (Jesus’ prayer, the apostles’ teaching, the credibility of the gospel, the church’s vocation, and the Trinity as model of unity), calls for a missional approach for the 21st century,  and addresses the progress and challenges of the ecumenical dialogues.

    Wicks, Jared, SJ. “Vatican II Living on in the Bilateral Dialogues.” Ecumenical Trends 42:8 (September 2013): 122-125.
    The Roman Catholic ecumenist reviews how Vatican II is addressed in international Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogues on justification and apostolocity, with particular focus on the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, and then laments that the Vatican II Dei Verbum document’s call for all to immerse themselves in reading and study of Scripture has not been implemented in the 50 years hence.

    Zimmerman, Yvonne C. “Religious Liberty, Past and Present: A Conversation with Mennonite and United Methodist Histories.” Ecumenical Trends 42:10 (November 2013): 145-148, 158.
    A Mennonite scholar who teaches ethics at the Methodist Theological Seminary in Ohio compares and contrasts the two traditions’ understandings of religious liberty and addresses how their histories inform current issues around religious freedom, especially in regard to fair treatment of others: freedom to be non-religious, freedom of conscience, and freedom to practice other religions.

    Journal Articles of Note on Ecumenism as of July 23, 2013

    Carter, David. “The Church Towards a Common Vision: Commentary and Appraisal.” Ecumenical Trends 42:6 (June 2013): 81-89.
    A member of the Roman Catholic-World Methodist Council dialogue and church historian summarizes the content of the new World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission convergence document on ecclesiology and recommends a full study and reception process.

    Cox, Noel. “The Ordination of Women and the Unity of the Church.” Churchman: A Journal of Anglican Theology 127:2 (Summer 2013): 119-134.
    An Anglican law professor and priest presents the history and theology of inariaers and his assessment of the challenge which the Anglican ordination of women (and practicing homosexuals) as priests and bishops presents to the goal of recognition of Anglican orders by the Roman Catholic Church.

    Gros, Jeffrey, FSC. “The New Evangelization: Unity in Proclamation and the Proclamation of Unity.” Ecumenical Trends 42:5 (May 2013): 65-67,79.
    The veteran Roman Catholic ecumenist provides a report on progress to date on an expected text on mission as “new evangelization” that is being developed in the Catholic Roman Synod of Bishops and will be issued as an Apostolic Exhortation by the pope.

    Pope Francis. “Speech to Archbishop of Canterbury.” and Archbishop Justin Welby. “Speech to Pope Francis.” Origins 43:8 (June 27, 2013): 121-122.
    The exchange of speeches between the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury at their meeting at the Vatican on June 14, 2013 pledged mutual prayer for one another’s ministries and reaffirmed their mutual commitment to Roman Catholic-Anglican ecumenical dialogue.

    Routhier, Gilles. “The Ecumenical Movement in Quebec: A Long Pilgrimage toward Christian Unity.” Ecumenism No. 184 (Fall 2012-Winter 2013): 43-48.
    This article tracing the history of ecumenical work in Quebec from sixteenth-century colonization to 1990 provides an exemplary model for others who may want to document the historical progression of local ecumenical efforts.

    Studia Liturgica 42:1-2 (2012) – series of articles on “Baptism: Rites and Christian Life”: Papers from the 2011 Reims Congress of Societas Liturgica:

    • Spinks, Bryan D. “What is ‘New’ in the ‘History of Christian Baptismal Liturgy: The Early Centuries”: 16-32.
    • Larson-Miller, Lizette. “Baptism in the Early Medieval West: Our Changing Perspective of the ‘Dark Ages’”: 33-53.
    • Souletie, Jean-Louis, “Baptism, the Matrix of Tradition”: 54-72.
    • Stuflesser, Martin. “’Born from Water and the Holy Spirit, Let them Rise to New Life’: The Euchology of the Rites of Initiation in the Context of the Interplay between Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, and Lex Agendi”: 73-107.
    • Jensen, Robin M. “Ancient Baptismal Spaces: Form and Function”: 108-129.
    • Geldhof, Joris. “The Place of Baptism: On Being and Becoming Christian in Postmodern Cultures”: 130-153.
    • Bordeyne, Philippe and Bruce T. Morrill, S.J. “Baptism and Identity Formation: Convergences in Ritual and Ethical Perspectives, A Dialogue”: 154-175.
    • Serra, Dominic E. “Postbaptismal Rites in Early Roman Practice”: 176-189.
    • De Clerck, Paul. “The Confirmation of Baptism: A Historico-Theological Interpretation Towards a Renewed Pastoral Approach”: 190-196.
    • Anderson, E. Byron. “Apotaxis and Ethics: The Baptismal Renunciations and Christian Discipleship”: 197-216.
    • Poulet, Frédérique. “Baptism: Renouncing the Knowledge of Evil”: 217-230.
    • Nasrallah, Rima, Heleen Murre-van den Berg and Marcel Barnard. “Kinetics of Healing: Protestant Women Pledging Baptism in Saydnaya Orthodox Monastery”: 270-284.

    Rausch, Thomas P., S.J. “Occasional Eucharistic Hospitality: Revisiting the Question.” Theological Studies 74:2 (June 2013): 399-419.
    “After examining the theological implications of the concept of communio, some guidelines in canon law, and some recent diocesan guidelines, the article asks whether the Roman Catholic Church might offer occasional Eucharistic hospitality to some non-Catholic Christians, noting that eucharistic hospitality is different from intercommunion in that it is offered not to churches but to individuals in particular circumstances” (Abstract).

    New Journal Articles of Note on Ecumenism, May 30, 2013

    Budde, Mitzi J. “Are We There Yet? The Task and Function of Full Communion Coordinating Committees.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 48:1 (Winter 2013): 5-19.
    The Lutheran co-chair of the national Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee explores how the various coordinating committee are chartered, commissioned, and staffed and provides examples of their work as consultative, collaborative, corroborative, canonical, encouraging, strategic, creative, communicative, generative, and missional.

    Ciraulo, Jonathan Martin. “The One and the Many: Peter and Peters.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 48:1 (Winter 2013): 45-57.
    Proposing that every local bishop is fully a successor to Peter as well as the bishop of Rome, the author seeks to reconcile Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox understandings of the nature of the Petrine ministry.

    “Ecumenical and Ecological Perspectives on the ‘God of Life.’” Theme Issue. The Ecumenical Review 65:1 (March 2013):

    • Ernst M. Conradie, “The God of Life: A Counter-Intuitive Confession”: 3-16.
    • Sallie McFague, “Falling in Love with God and the World: Some Reflections on the Doctrine of God”: 17-34.
    • George Zachariah, “Re-imagining God of Life from the Margins”: 35-50.
    • Robert Owusu Agyarko, “God of Life: Rethinking the Akan Christian Concept of God in the Light of the Ecological Crisis”: 51-66.
    • Lai Pan-chiu, “God of Life and Ecological Theology: A Chinese Christian Perspective”: 67-82.

    Smucker, Julia Hildegard. “Community and Discipleship: Toward a Mennonite-Catholic Convergence on Baptism.” Pro Ecclesia 22:1 (Winter 2013): 69-87.

    Stevenson, Christopher A. “Proclaiming the Mystery of Faith Together: Toward Greater Common Witness between Pentecostals and Roman Catholics on the Lord’s Supper.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 48:1 (Winter 2013): 85-96.
    A bishop and theologian in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) presents seven theses on the Lord’s Supper to deepen Pentecostal and Roman Catholic common witness.

    Stramara, Daniel F., Jr. “Resignation of the Petrine Office and Implications for Ecumenical Dialogue.” Ecumenical Trends 42:4 (April 2013): 58-59, 62.

    Unitatis Redintegratio series. Ecumenical Trends:

    • Don Rooney, “Unitatis Redintegratio: Benchmark or High-Water Mark?” Ecumenical Trends 42:3 (March 2013): 37-43.
    • David Carter, “Vatican II: A Methodist Reaction.” Ecumenical Trends 42:4 (April 2013): 49-55, 62.
    • Bruce Ruddock. “The Influence of Unitatis Redintegratio: An Anglican Perspective.” Ecumenical Trends 42:4 (April 2013): 56-57.

    Vanderwell, Howard and Norma Dewaal Malefyt. “Unity, Reconciliation, Justice: A Series on the Belhar Confession.” Reformed Worship 108 (June 2013): 4-13.
    Liturgical resources for a series of seven liturgies on themes of unity, reconciliation, and justice. Provided for each: an excerpt from the Belhar Confession, suggested Scriptures, readings from other confessional documents, suggested songs and hymns, prayers, and affirmations.

    Wicks, Jared, SJ. “The Ecumenical Imperative in Catholic Theology and Life.” Ecumenical Trends 42:3 (March 2013): 33-36, 43.
    The Roman Catholic scholar of Luther traces the ecumenical imperative through the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Vatican II ecclesiological documents, and his (Wicks’) own life and experience.

    Journal Articles of Note on Ecumenism as of March 30, 2013

    Alois, Brother. “A Passion for the Unity of the Body of Christ.” One in Christ 46:2 (2012): 291-302. 
    In this published version of a 2012 presentation from the International Eucharistic Congress, Brother Alois describes the Taize Community’s vision of ecumenical reconciliation based upon the priority of baptismal identity over denominational identity and calling for Eucharistic sharing that would help unity evolve.

    Clifton, Shane. “Ecumenism from the Bottom Up: A Pentecostal Perspective.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 47:4 (Fall, 2012): 576-592.
    An Australian Assemblies of God theologian traces the history of the Pentecostal movement, summarizes elements of Pentecostal ecclesiology, and seeks to help “Ecumenicals” and Pentecostals re-envision ecumenism together as a multifaceted movement of the Holy Spirit.

    Falconer, Alan D. “Councils, Conferences and Churches Together: Unity in Recognition, Unity in Via.” One in Christ 46:2 (2012): 185-210.  
    “In the light of the Gospel imperative for unity and the various stages from conflict to communion on the way to embody unity, the paper explores different models of unity, and raises questions as to the precise task, character and contribution of Councils and Churches Together movements, as churches seek to call each other to the goal of visible unity” (Abstract).

    George, Timothy. “Contra Mundum: Catholics and Baptists Together: The Recent Synod of Bishops Sounded Notes Protestants can Sing.” Christianity Today 57:1 (Jan/Feb 2013): 73.
    The author served as a fraternal delegate representing the Baptist World Alliance to the 2012 Roman Catholic Synod of Bishops. Reflecting upon the bishops’ document, “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith,” George emphasizes the shared themes of the centrality of the Bible, Jesus Christ and his saving grace, and the importance of religious freedom. The full text of his remarks to the Synod is online at http://beesondivinity.com/fromthedean/posts/vatican.

    Green, Thomas J. “A Canonist’s Perspective on Harvesting the Fruits.” Ecumenical Trends 42:2 (February 2013): 17-27, 30.  
    Catholic University of America’s Stephan Kuttner Professor of Canon Law analyzes Walter Kasper’s book, Harvesting the Fruits, for the embedded canonical issues that will need to be addressed in the search for unity. He “highlight[s] briefly the key points the canons affirm and refer[s] the reader to a notable English language commentary on the Latin code and one on its Eastern counterpart” (18), focusing on the canonical issues raised in Harvesting’s chapter three (The Church: its nature and mission, sources of authority, ministry) and chapter four (The Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist).

    McCoid, Donald J. “An Ecumenical Perspective on Vatican II.” Pastoral Music 37:2 (January 2013): 32-38.  
    The text of the John XXIII Lecture at the 35th National Association of Pastoral Musicians Convention, in which the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Executive for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations addresses the ecumenical groundwork of Vatican II, summarizes Harvesting the Fruits, and updates the status of the current Lutheran World Federation – Roman Catholic dialogue around the upcoming 500th anniversary of the Reformation and the possibility of a future joint declaration on the sacrament of Holy Baptism.