wfn.org | John Ford Offers Catholic View of Ecumenical Future

[CAROL.FOUKE@ecunet.org]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Contact: NCC News:
Web: www.ncccusa.org; New York office: 212-870-2227
NCC11/16/2000  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JOHN T. FORD OF CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY SHARES HIS ECUMENICAL VISION

November 16, 2000, ATLANTA, Ga. -- In an address that emphasized the
personal, heart-felt dimensions of the movement for Christian unity, the
Rev. John T. Ford, C.S.C., Professor of Theology and Coordinator of
Hispanic/Latino Studies at The Catholic University of America, Washington
D.C., offered the image of a "family reunion" as "a possible model for
expanding the relationship of the Roman Catholic Church and the National
Council of Churches."

A renowned Catholic theologian, Ford has, for 20 years, been a member of the
NCC's Faith and Order Commission, a body that focuses on the theological
underpinnings of the ecumenical movement.  "Faith and Order here in the
United States provides a venue where Christians can meet and share their
faith—both their commonalities and their differences," he said. Where
else can one participate in a theological conversation that includes Quakers
and Orthodox, Pentecostals and mainline Protestants, Evangelicals and Roman
Catholics?”

“Faith and Order has been like a family reunion where long-lost
cousins finally meet," he said.

Ford drew appreciative chuckles from General Assembly members when he found
an ecumenical lesson in the variety of foods served at the family reunions
of his childhood.  "To be perfectly honest there were foods that I
deliberately avoided," he said, citing in particular his Uncle Ed's "pig's
knuckles and sauerkraut."

"In every ecumenical gathering there is the equivalent of pig's knuckles and
sauerkraut," he said, "beliefs and practices that are treasured by one
community of Christians, but politely avoided, sometimes even deliberately
rejected, by other Christians."  In such matters, Christians need to "act
with caution, reverence and respect," he said.

Outlining areas both of agreement and disagreement on doctrinal and ethical
topics, Ford suggested that "an immediate approach" to a closer relationship
between the Roman Catholic Church and the NCC "would be more like family
relationships—in various degrees of closeness and cooperation.” 
Citing cooperative work with NCC member communions ranging from Faith and
Order projects, to environmental efforts and translation of the New Revised
Standard Version Bible, Ford posed the question: "At the beginning of the
21st century, one might well ask can these areas of contact be
expanded?”

"To me," he concluded, "the image of family reunion suggests that American
churches should act together in all possible matters except where conscience
or conviction requires them to act separately."

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