CONTENTS              volume 43 number 2

Jamie Hawkey’s reassessment of the four marks of the Church as vocative statements illustrates this more properly theological approach. In the liturgy, we proclaim our belief in the Church as One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, recognizing both what we already are, and what we hope to become. The whole project then becomes a prayer, becomes eucharist, which is surely right.

This essay was first presented as a meditation on Phil 2: 1-11 during the Second International Conference on Receptive Ecumenism and Ecumenical Learning, Centre for Catholic Studies, Durham University, England, in January 11-15, 2009. The line of theological reflection presented here is developed more extensively by the author in ‘Kenosis and the Path to Communion,’ The Jurist 64/1 (2004): 21-34.

Composing an annual chronology of events in the field of Jewish-Catholic relations has been a cause for celebration ever since the Second Vatican Council, thanks to a breathtaking surge in encounters, dialogue and common projects between Jews and Catholics at all levels. Conversations, collaboration and friendship are the order of the day wherever Jews and Catholics live together. And everywhere the Catholic Church repeatedly insists on its Jewish roots in the Scriptures of Israel and on the inalienable Jewish identity of Jesus of Nazareth and his first disciples. This article presents the major events of the year 2009, and then analyzes at greater depth three issues that have been at the center of Jewish-Catholic relations during the year.

John Calvin has a justified reputation as an aggressive, divisive theologian, but in his own terms he was an ecumenist, doing more than anyone else to forge Reformed Protestantism into a single body (against Rome). This article considers some of the theological priorities around which he built that unity, but which appear unattractive to most modern Christians: in particular his views on predestination, idolatry and discipline. It suggests some of the reasons why these doctrines and practices might once have seemed compelling and asks what the modern Churches might have to learn from them.

Eastern Catholic Churches have too often featured as a ‘problem’ in discussions between the Roman Church and the Orthodox. The vocation of these Churches needs instead to be portrayed positively, for example by exploiting the biblical figures of Abraham and Sarah. Their ‘double communion’, enabling them to fulfil a bridging role between Catholic and Orthodox traditions, may then be exploited for the benefit of the whole oecumene. The spirit and recommendations of the Balamand Statement are as valid now as when it was issued in 1993.

Primacy remains a—or even the—crucial ecumenical issue. Orthodoxy recognises the need for primacy, but not in its modern forms, and not as a supreme authority. Instead, the ministry of primacy is to express and preserve the unity of the universal Church. Recent ecclesiology renews our sense of the Church as the one, organic Body of Christ. As a universal body, the Church must have a head. But equally, the Church is wholly present wherever there is Eucharist. The only authority in the Church is that of the  episcopacy, whether in individual or in conciliar modality.

Papal supremacy and infallibility have become the ‘greatest obstacle’ to the ecumenical movement. Vatican I’s statement of infallibitility is presented in its European, historical context. Newman’s moderating voice  stresses the developmental life of Church doctrine: from the earliest times, all statements of faith have a dynamic quality, requiring reception, interpretation, even re-reception. The question is not if there is a Petrine, apostolic ministry, but what form it should take, within a conciliar context, if Rome is to offer the ministry of universal primacy which the Church needs today, ‘presiding in love’. It is a question needing the efforts of all to answer.

Part one of this study focused on the general Catholic norms. Part two draws on some particular Catholic norms, and resumes the main points of the particular norms or guidelines issued by Bishops and Episcopal Conferences in France, the United Kingdom and Ireland, South Africa, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Germany and the US. Exceptional Eucharistic sharing does not mean an open, general or reciprocal Eucharistic hospitality. It is foreseen in situations of joy and sorrow in the lives of individuals and families, celebrations and other important events. Instead of concentrating on the sorrow of separation at the Eucharistic Table, the particular norms root Eucharistic sharing for mixed marriages or families in the double sacramental bond of baptism and marriage. Also, Eucharistic sharing is not necessarily limited to one-off situations, but can be repeated as long as it remains exceptional, and so excludes continuous sharing, e.g. each Sunday. Some particular norms also clarify conditions for Eucharistic sharing, regarding e.g. the content of Catholic Eucharistic faith, and how it is expressed.

This article surveys the most recent report (2007) of the dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, entitled The Church as Community of Common Witness to the Kingdom of God. Emphasising orthopraxy as much as orthodoxy, it is noteworthy for the fact that it takes account of the practical cooperation of the two communions in three specific situations as well as dealing with the ecclesiological and theological issues concerned in the general theme.

This article recalls the influential World Missionary Conference held at Edinburgh in 1910 and offers analysis of the exciting process which is underway to mark the centenary. As emblem of the modern missionary movement, birthplace of the ecumenical movement and harbinger of a new era in world Christianity, Edinburgh 1910 has proved to be a defining event in Christian history. After 100 years its shortcomings and blind-spots are clearly visible yet there is abundant evidence to vindicate its fundamental conviction: that the good news of Jesus Christ can take root in every culture across the world and produce fruit in church and society everywhere. The centenary, like the original event, is being marked by both a study process and an event in Edinburgh. The entire effort aims to be polycentric, worldwide and inclusive, making full use of contemporary technology and communication media. The study process is already yielding insights which may be vital to the renewal of Christian mission for the twenty-first century.

This article surveys the dialogues which have taken place between Reformation Churches and the Catholic Church. This year the Council’s Decree on Ecumenism is forty-five years old, and it is surely helpful to look beyond a snapshot of the current ecumenical situation which is not without its difficulties, in order to focus on the new and broader perspectives to which we are all committed. Some key moments in our dialogues are identified, along with the major issues which have been at stake, and which have brought precious gains on the path of unity.

"The members of the Anglican Roman Catholic dialogue of Canada carefully studied the agreed statement of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), ‘Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ’ (hereafter MGH), during its meetings from 2006 to 2008,  considering the document in light of our diverse theological, liturgical, and devotional traditions. We welcome the approach of MGH as a significant re-reception of our common faith in the unique mediation of Christ and its affirmation of the normative role of the Scriptures for our theology, prayer, and spiritual practice as they relate to the role of Mary in God’s saving plan. Further, we wish to express our appreciation for ARCIC’s assessment of the Catholic dogmatic teaching concerning Mary, the mother of the Lord, as being ‘consonant with the teaching of the Scriptures and the ancient common traditions’ (§60). In this text we wish to reaffirm the areas of convergence in our theology and practice, identify a number of ways to further build upon this agreement, and consider how it might be received in our context. It is our hope that these reflections will not only be taken into consideration by the authorities of our two communions, but that they might serve as a resource for Anglicans and Catholics in Canada as they study and learn from MGH."