Baptist House of Studies Hosts Baptist World Alliance and Catholic Church Conversations
January 23, 2009
Baptists and Catholics focused on “Mary in the Communion of the Church” during the latest in a series of conversations between the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) and the Catholic Church held Dec. 14-20 at Duke Divinity School.
Members of the Catholic and Baptist teams delivered papers on the topic in the third round in the second series of discussions between the two groups hosted by the Baptist House of Studies under the leadership of Curtis W. Freeman, director of Baptist House and a research professor of theology.
L. Gregory Jones, dean of the Divinity School, welcomed the participants, and Professor Geoffrey Wainwright spoke on insights from the current Catholic-Methodist conversations.
BWA and the Catholic Church held the first round in this latest series of conversations at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, in Birmingham, Ala., in 2006. The second round was held in 2007 in Rome, Italy. A first phase of international conversations had taken place in 1984-1988, resulting in a report in 1990 titled “Summons to Witness to Christ in Today’s World.” The overall theme of this second phase, from 2006-2010, is “The Word of God in the Life of the Church: Scripture, Tradition and Koinonia.”
Bishop Arthur Serratelli of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson, N.J., and the Rev. Dr. Paul Fiddes, professor of systematic theology at the University of Oxford in England, co-chair these conversations on behalf of the Catholic Church and BWA respectively.
The secretaries for the co-chairs at the Duke meeting were Dr. Fausto Vasconcelos of the Study and Research Division of the BWA, and the Rev.Gregory J. Fairbanks of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
The Baptist team consists of permanent members and special guests. Permanent members participating in this round of conversations included Drs. Fred Deegbe of Ghana, Tadeusz Zielinski of Poland, Tomas Mackey of Argentina, the Rev. Tony Peck of the Czech Republic, and Drs. Timothy George, Steven Harmon, and Nora Lozano of the United States. Guests included Freeman, and Drs. Elizabeth Newman and Nancy Elizabeth Bedford, both of the United States.
The Catholic team consists of permanent members and consultants. Participating members in this round of conversations included Drs. Peter Casarella and Susan K. Wood, S.C.L., of the United States, Dr. Krzysztof Mielcarek of Poland, the Rev. William Henn, O.F.M. Cap., and Dr. Teresa Francesca Rossi of Italy, and Rev. Jorge Scampini, O.P., of Argentina. Consultants present included Sister Sara Butler, M.S.B.T., and the Rev. Dennis McManus, both of the United States.
Papers delivered on the topic of “Mary in the Communion of the Church” by the Catholic delegation were “Mary in the Light of Scripture and the Early Church” by Mielcarek; “Mary in the Light of Ongoing Tradition” by Butler; “Mary and Contemporary Issues of Inculturation and Spirituality” by Casarella; and “Marian Issues in Feminism” by Rossi.
Baptist papers delivered were a response paper by Newman to Mielcarek’s presentation; “Mary and Contemporary Issues of Inculturation and Spirituality” by Lozano; and “Mary in the Light of Ongoing Tradition” by George.
Other highlights of week were visits to the Nasher Art Museum, Duke University Chapel, and the “Mary, The Paper Doll Project,” an interactive exhibit of various cultural depictions of Mary by Carole Baker, a research associate for the Divinity School that was on display at St.Philips Episcopal Church in Durham, N.C.
The group will convene for its fourth round of these conversations in 2009 to study “Oversight and Primacy in the Ministry of the Church.”