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Reconciliation Among Christians Discussed at Symposium
An October symposium at The University of Scranton brought together scholars and clergymen involved in the work of ecumenism including, from left, symposium speakers Monsignor Paul McPartlan, the Carl J. Peter Professor of Systematic Theology and Ecumenism at the Catholic University of America; the Most Reverend Anthony Mikovsky, Ph.D., Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church; Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, professor of historical theology in Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto; and symposium organizer Will Cohen, Ph.D., assistant professor of theology and religious studies at The University of Scranton.
“Ecumenism at its best is an exchange of gifts. True ecumenism is an enriching endeavor; the search for unity in which all involved will retain what they hold precious and gain more besides,” said Monsignor Paul McPartlan, the Carl J. Peter Professor of Systematic Theology and Ecumenism at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in his keynote address.
More than 100 students, faculty, staff and community members attended the lecture, entitled “An Exchange of Gifts: Catholic-Orthodox and Catholic-Methodist Dialogue,” held on Oct. 15 in the Moskovitz Theater of the DeNaples Center.
Msgr. McPartlan highlighted a general principle that all Christians should embrace — unity. “God’s loving purpose … is to unite humanity — to gather together the scattered children of God. As members of the Church in a divided world, what we are supposed to be doing is bearing witness to the unity that God’s love alone makes possible,” Msgr. McPartlan said. “For Christians themselves to be divided, then, is the greatest contradiction of what we are about.”
He explored the dialogues the Catholic Church carries with the Orthodox Church (the Ravenna Statement from the Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue of 2007) and the Methodist Church (the Seoul Report from the Catholic-Methodist Dialogue in 2006).
“As a member of both of those dialogues, I can certainly say that good things have been happening,” Msgr. McPartlan said.
In the Seoul Report Msgr. McPartlan explained the Catholic and Methodist churches share the notion that the Church is essentially an agent of God’s missionary activiity, and the Christian life is part of communion and the pursuit of holiness. Yet, Catholics and Methodists continue to live separate lives as Christian communities, he noted.
He highlighted the connection between the Church’s structure and the Trinity, as discussed in the Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue. He said the Church is a communion of communities and the Trinity is a communion of persons.
“The Church finds its model, its origin and its purpose in the mystery of God, one in three persons, and the institutional elements of the Church should reflect the reality of the mystery,” Msgr. McPartlan said.
The lecture followed an afternoon panel discussion, entitled “The Church of Christ and Ecumenism 10 Years after Dominus Iesus: a Symposium on Christian Division and Reconciliation,” featuring the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, the University of Toronto; the Most Rev. Dr. Anthony Mikovsky, prime bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church; and Msgr. McPartlan. The panel discussion was sponsored by the Education for Justice Office and the Department of Theology and Religious Studies.
