Sharing Peace: Mennonites and Catholics in Conversation

About the Book

Sharing Peace brings together leading Mennonite and Catholic theologians and ecclesial leaders to reflect on the recent, first-ever international dialogue between the Mennonite World Conference and the Vatican. The search for a shared reading of history, theology of the church and its sacraments or ordinances, and understandings of Christ's call to be peacemakers are its most prominent themes.

Contributors include:

Scott Appleby (Kroc Institute, Notre Dame) Alan Kreider (Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary) Helmut Harder (Mennonite co-chair of the international dialogue) Drew Christiansen, SJ (Georgetown University, Catholic delegate to the international dialogue) John Roth (Goshen College) John Cavadini (University of Notre Dame) C. Arnold Snyder (University of Waterloo) Mary Doak(University of San Diego) Elizabeth Groppe (Xavier University) Thomas Finger (author of A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology) Bishop Gabino Zavala (past president of Pax Christi USA) Duane Friesen (Bethel College, Kansas) Gerald Schlabach (University of St. Thomas) Mary Schertz (Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary) Abbot John Klassen, OSB (Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota; co-chair of Bridgefolk)

Margaret R. Pfeil is assistant professor of moral theology at the University of Notre Dame and a Faculty Fellow of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. She specializes in Catholic social thought. She is also a cofounder and resident of St. Peter Claver Catholic Worker House in South Bend, Indiana, and is on the board of Bridgefolk, a movement of Mennonites and Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other's practices and honor each other's contributions to the mission of Christ's church.

Gerald W. Schlabach is professor of theology and director of the Justice and Peace Studies program at the University of St. Thomas in St.Paul, Minnesota. He is cofounder and executive director of Bridgefolk. His books include Just Policing, Not War: An Alternative Response to World Violence (Liturgical Press, 2007) and Unlearning Protestantism: Sustaining Christian Community in an Unstable Age.

Table of Contents:

Contents
Foreword by Msgr. John A. Radano   ix
Preface   xi
Part 1: The Significance of Called Together to Be Peacemakers   1
     Chapter 1 “Christian Peacebuilding: The Growing Edge of the Catholic-Mennonite Conversation” by Scott Appleby   3
               Incorporating the Experiences and Insights of Peacebuilders   5
               The Growing Edge for Catholics   10
               The Growing Edge for Mennonites   12
               Conclusion   14
     Chapter 2 Response to Scott Appleby’s “Christian Peacebuilding: The Growing Edge of the Catholic-Mennonite Conversation” by Helmut Harder   16
     Chapter 3 “The Significance of the Mennonite-Catholic Dialogue: A Mennonite Perspective” by Alan Kreider   20
               Why Now?   20
               So What?   21
               Difficulties   30
               Hope   31
     Chapter 4 “The Significance of the Mennonite-Catholic Dialogue: A Catholic Perspective” by Drew Christiansen, SJ   32
               Significance of the Dialogue: An Exchange of Gifts   32
               Confronting History   33
               Confessing Religious Coercion   35
               Styles of Peacemaking   36
Part 2: Considering History Together   39
     Chapter 5 “Rightly Remembering as Re-Membering” by John D. Roth   41
               Purification of Memories   44
               “Considering History Together”   46
                  Baptism   47
                  Anabaptist Divisiveness and the Question of Church Unity   47
                  The Use of Violence in Religious Matters: What Is the Price of Unity?   49
               Competing Liturgies and the Challenge of Christian Formation   52
     Chapter 6 “Called Together to Ressourcement” by John C. Cavadini   57
          Suggestion: Joint Ressourcement   57
          Example: Augustine on Church and Eucharist   60
          Conclusion   64
Part 3: The Nature of the Church   65
     Chapter 7 “The Vine That Nourishes the Peace Church” by C. Arnold Snyder   67
          Images of the Church—Concurrence and Shift   67
          Strengths and Weaknesses   71
          Conclusions   74
     Chapter 8 “A People Set Apart” by Mary Doak   77
          A Timely Document   77
          A Common Ecclesiology   79
          Differences: Christological and Eschatological Theologies of Peace   81
          Differences: Magisterium and Mission   84
          Conclusion   85
Part 4: Sacraments and Ordinances   87
     Chapter 9 “‘This Is My Body’: The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the Call to Be Peacemakers” by Elizabeth T. Groppe   89
          Roman Catholic Eucharistic Theology   90
          The Eucharist and the Practice of Peacemaking   96
          Becoming What We Receive   99
               1. Making Explicit the Nonviolence of Christ within the Eucharistic Prayer   102
               2. Contextualizing the Sacrifice of the Eucharist in the Nonviolent Practice of Christ   103
               3. Incorporating Lamentation into our Eucharistic Prayers   105
               4. Integrating Contemplation and Nonviolent Action in Catholic Formation   107
          Conclusion   108
     Chapter 10 “Surprising, Widening Sacramentality in the Anabaptist-Mennonite Tradition” by Thomas Finger   110
          Comprehensive Sacramentality   110
               A Catholic Orientation   111
               A Mennonite Orientation   113
          Sacramentality and the Church   114
          Particular sacraments   118
               Baptism   119
               Eucharist   120
          Sacraments and Eschatology   123
Part 5: Our Commitment to Peace   125
     Chapter 11 “Pax Christi and the Gospel of Peace: Making the Case for the Abolition of War in the Twenty-First Century” by Bishop Gabino Zavala   127
          What We Share   129
          Making the Case for the Abolition of War in the Twenty-First Century   131
          The Journey of the Catholic Church to Nonviolence   135
          Building Foundations for Inclusive Security   140
     Chapter 12 “The Gift of the Other: Toward Mutual Transformation” by Duane K. Friesen   143
          Three Areas of Transformation of the Mennonite Tradition   144
               1. Theological Interpretation of Political Authority and Participation in Government   144
               2. Public Order and Security in Response to Grave Public Evils   148
               3. Shared Practices of Just Peacemaking   150
               Just Peacemaking Practices   151
               Conclusion   155
Part 6: Toward a Healing of Memories   157
     Chapter 13 “Catholic and Mennonite: A Journey of Healing” by Gerald W. Schlabach   159
          Bridging   160
          Healing   161
          Dialogue   166
          Vision   170
          Conclusion: Brother Roger   176
     Chapter 14 Response to “Catholic and Mennonite: A Journey of Healing” by Abbot John Klassen, OSB   179
     Chapter 15 Response to “Catholic and Mennonite: A Journey of Healing” by Mary H. Schertz   182
     Appendix A “Called Together to Be Peacemakers: Report of the International Dialogue between the Catholic Church and Mennonite World Conference, 1998–2003”   189
     Appendix B “Mennonite and Catholic Contribution to the World Council of Churches’ Decade to Overcome Violence”   260
     List of Contributors   269

About the Author :
Margaret R. Pfeil is assistant professor of moral theology at the University of Notre Dame and a Faculty Fellow of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. She specializes in Catholic social thought. She is also a cofounder and resident of St. Peter Claver Catholic Worker House in South Bend, Indiana, and is on the board of Bridgefolk, a movement of Mennonites and Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other's practices and honor each other's contributions to the mission of Christ's church. Gerald W. Schlabach is professor of theology and former chair of justice and peace studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. He holds a PhD in theology and ethics from the University of Notre Dame. During much of the 1980s he worked in Central America on church-related peace and justice assignments. Schlabach is co-founder of Bridgefolk, a movement for grassroots dialogue and unity between Mennonites and Roman Catholics. He is active in the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, which is engaged in a sustained conversation with the Vatican in favor of a "just peace" framework for Catholic teaching and practice. His books include Just Policing, Not War: An Alternative Response to World Violence, and Sharing Peace: Mennonites and Catholics in Conversation, both from Liturgical Press.