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Written by Jerry L. Van Marter
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Thursday, 23 December 2010 18:34 |
LOUISVILLE (PNS) — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — along with three other Reformed churches — and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have reached agreement on mutual recognition of each other's baptisms.
The historic Common Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Baptism, now approved by the USCCB, marks the first formal ecumenical agreement the U.S. Catholics have entered with any other church.
It comes after seven rounds of Reformed-Roman Catholic dialogue that also includes the Reformed Church in America (RCA), the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA), and the United Church of Christ (UCC).
The baptism agreement was forwarded to the participating churches for action in February 2008. The 217th General Assembly (2008) of the PC(USA) approved the agreement and the presbyteries ratified it. The CRCNA, RCA, and UCC will consider it at their synods in 2011.
The Common Agreement is undergirded by a study paper entitled These Living Waters that has been developed by the Reformed-Roman Catholic dialogue.
The Seventh Round of Reformed Roman Catholic dialogue also completed a study on the Eucharist entitled This Bread of Life. This report will go to the churches for reception in the spring of 2011. Upon reception, both papers will be published “These Living Waters; This Bread of Life” with study guides for theologians, pastors, and congregants.
The chairs of the dialogue were Richard Mouw of the PC(USA) and the USCCB’s Bishop Patrick Cooney. Mouw is president of Fuller Theological Seminary. Also representing the PC(USA) is the Rev. Martha Moore-Keish. Robina Winbush has served as PC(USA) staff to the dialogue.
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