Fr. Ignatius Spencer

Fr. Ignatius Spencer was born George Spencer in 1799 and was an Anglican clergyman in the area of Althorp, Northamptonshire, where Lady Diana was buried after she was killed in a Paris car crash in August 1997.

Fr. Spencer converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of 31, scandalizing some in the Victorian society.

The Spencer family, mostly members of the Church of England, were the fifth wealthiest family in the country at the time.

Early on in his priesthood, Fr. Spencer was attracted to the active contemplative community of the Passionists. He became known for his ecumenical efforts in pursuit of “unity in truth,” the same quest for truth that led him to the Catholic faith.

Source: Catholic News Agency - Priest related to Princess Diana on the path to sainthood, 31 Aug 2016, http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/priest-related-to-princess-diana-on-the-path-to-sainthood-66326/

Abbot Gregory of Conception Abbey

Many remember [Abbot Gregory of Conception Abbey] for his exceptional leadership during the shooting at the abbey in the summer of 2002. A man upset about his divorce went on a rampage at the abbey, killing two monks and seriously wounding two more. Steady during this trauma, the abbot led his community to forgiveness and greater spiritual health.

One incident in particular comes to mind. When it was time to transport the bodies of the monks and the shooter, who had killed himself in the basilica, the trooper asked whether or not the deceased should travel in the same vehicle, the abbot simply responded, “Why not? They are all children of God.” Years spent praying the Psalter had so formed his mind and heart that he could not respond any other way. This is the kind of Christian I aspire to be.

Source: Molly T. Marshall - "Can a Baptist be a Catholic?", Baptist News Global, 13 September 2016, https://baptistnews.com/article/can-a-baptist-be-a-catholic/#.V-VcYZMrKu7

Rhiannon Lloyd

From the story of Rhiannon Lloyd, Welsh reconciler in Rwanda:

Finally Rhiannon tells them a personal story. "I come from a nation where two tribes have hurt each other," she says. "One day I was in a prayer meeting when an English Christian knelt at my feet. 'We have often made the Welsh our servants,' she said. 'Please forgive us.' And she proceeded to wash my feet. A deep healing took place in my heart that day because of the humility of one person who chose to identify with the sins of her people against my people." Rhiannon's simple story contains a key ... Each believer must take up the cross and apply it to their own identity. Even now God is looking for people like Rhiannon's humble English friend. He's looking for those who will express the humility of Christ and bring healing to the nations.

Source: John Dawson - What Christians Should Know About Reconciliation, p. 8

Forgiving His Future Murderer

From the story of Christian de Chergé, who forgave his murderer 2 years before he was killed, in a prophetic letter:

"I would like, when the time comes, to have a space of clearness that would allow me to beg forgiveness of God and of my fellow human beings, and at the same time to forgive with all my heart the one who will strike me down ... In this 'Thank you,' which is said for everything in my life from now on, I certainly include you, my last-minute friend who will not have known what you are doing ... I commend you to the God in whose face I see yours. And may we find each other, happy 'good thieves' in Paradise, if it please God, the Father of us both."

Source: Johann Christoph Arnold - Why Forgive?, pp.57-58

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory

Beginning in 1908, Christians have observed an annual time to pray for the ultimate gift of full unity. The observance began in New York with Episcopalians and Catholics and has since developed into a worldwide octave of Prayer for Christian Unity. The octave concludes with the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on Jan. 25. This year, I shared in the ecumenical prayer service at Emory University on Jan. 24 and joined my voice with those Christians of other denominations asking the Lord to heal our divisions and in His grace and time to unite us more perfectly in Christ Jesus.

I hope that many such opportunities for ecumenical prayer and fellowship will connect the communities of the Archdiocese of Atlanta with our Christian neighbors and friends. We have recently made great progress in learning how to care for one another with greater mutual respect and affection.

Source: Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory - The Georgia Bulletin, "The love of Christ compels us to reconcile", 26 Jan 2017, https://georgiabulletin.org/commentary/2017/01/love-christ-compels-us-reconcile/ (ALSO IN SPANISH at https://georgiabulletin.org/commentary/2017/01/el-amor-de-cristo-nos-apremia-reconciliarnos/?lang=es)

in utrisque Caritas

Across the years, Packer has been involved in theological conversations with Orthodox believers, Roman Catholics, charismatic Christians, as well as mainline Protestants. In each of these encounters, he has promoted a vigorous biblical and spiritual theology, in keeping with the Great Tradition. Packer has been ever mindful of the maxim of Richard Baxter, on whom he wrote his Oxford doctoral dissertation:

in necessariis Unitas,
in non-necessariis Libertas,
in utrisque Caritas.

Despite his charitable spirit and his desire to foster a unitive, irenic evangelicalism, Packer has not been able to avoid controversy. Nowhere have the reactions been more volatile than in the response to Packer’s participation in Evangelicals and Catholics Together. Like his friend Charles Colson, Packer became a major target of the initial evangelical protest against ECT.

Source: Timothy George - "Packer at Ninety", First Things, October 2016, https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/10/packer-at-ninety

Leonard's Story

In 1972, I became a believer at the age of 21. My story is sadly summed up in one word: ignorance.

For twenty years following my public profession of Jesus as my Redeemer, my young family actively attended church and all became Christians. We grew in the Spirit, placed our faith in God who guides our lives and decisions.

Regretfully, during all that time I was completely unaware of what the term Protestant meant and the reasons of its origin. This became particularly embarrassing and painful in the years ahead because, I was a teenager living in Wiesbaden, (just a short drive from Mainz & Worms) where my father was stationed serving in the U.S. Air Force. And, during those years I was oblivious to anti-Semitism, the history of Reformation and the deep divisions between Catholics and Protestants.

Even though I regularly attended church in the chapels provided on the military bases, I was completely unaware of the reasons there were separate "Protestant" and "Catholic" services, nor the history behind it.

It was not until around 1993 while attending a PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) the "scales" fell off my eyes while studying the history of the Church (from many differing sources) leading up to the Reformation and why freedom of worship for billions became radically different since 1517.

I began observing and, now seeing, the divisions in virtually all churches – Protestant and Catholic alike. Determined not to add to those divisions, I became familiar with the many differing ways worship was lived out in all followers of Christ, and in the Tribe of Judah.

In recent years I've prayed that God would involve me in some fashion with the events this year and with all the healing restoration many are receiving. My ignorance has been replaced with a clearer understanding of our shared history and in particular the extensive anti-Semitism that remains throughout Europe.

Sharing our mutual Christian history with those in my life and church helps reconcile followers of Jesus, and helps diminish the wariness many Americans harbor toward Jewish people.

I praise God and thank Him for His Patience with me during all those years of ignorance.

Source: Wittenberg 2017 - "Leonard's Story", from the Wittenberg 2017 (US) website
http://www.wittenberg2017.us/leonardrsquos-story.html

Mateo Calisi

"Mateo Calisi…developed contacts in Argentina with local Evangelical and Pentecostal leaders, with whom a new body was formed; the movement known as CRECES (literally, Renewed Communion of Catholics and Evangelicals in the Holy Spirit). From the beginning, Catholic archbishop of Buenos Aries, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ, now Pope Francis, supported CRECES. Cardinal Bergoglio played a regular part in CRECES gatherings, and was prayed over by leading Pentecostal pastors.... Pope Francis is the first bishop of Rome to have had regular and warm relationships with Evangelical and Pentecostal leaders. This closeness is reflected in the welcome given to Cardinal Bergoglio's election as bishop of Rome by a leading Argentinian Pentecostal, Dr. Norberto Saracco: 'Bergoglio is a man of God. He is passionate for the unity of the church—but not just at the institutional level. His priority is unity at the level of the people.'"

Source: Fr. Peter Hocken - Pentecost and Parousia, p. 69

Not Your Typical Cosmo Girl

My name is Carmen Briceno, but everyone calls me China (sounds like "cheenuh"). I'm 35 years old, the daughter of a diplomat, and I was born in Venezuela but have lived in United States for most of my life.

Growing up, I was what you might call a "cradle Catholic" — my family went to Mass every Sunday, but we weren't incredibly religious, more culturally Catholic. I didn't have a deeply personal relationship with God in any sense. It wasn't until later, as a young adult, when my faith became my own and I allowed God to change my life.

When I moved to Virginia as a young adult, I got into volleyball — which, in a way, paved my way toward God. While playing, I met a Christian girl. She was my first non-Catholic friend. She wasn't pushy and never tried to get me to convert. Instead, she was instrumental in demonstrating to me what a relationship with God could really be like, because in her I saw a deep, tangible love and a personal connection to Jesus Christ. Watching Jesus alive in her, I thought, That. I want that.

She brought to light some of the answers to questions I never knew I had. When she asked me about my relationship with God, I truly had no idea how to answer. When you're not questioned about your faith, you may not know the depth of what you're missing. Around that time, I also met a priest, Father Juan, who met with me regularly and explained so many things about faith and the Bible to me. So through these two blossoming friendships, my faith was deepened or, in many ways, awakened.

In 2005, I got the opportunity to go to Cologne, Germany, with 20 other young adults, led by Father Juan, for International World Youth Day. It was a powerful week of prayer, service, and fellowship with the Pope. I'd never seen anything like it; people were on fire for God and were not afraid to express it.

There, I felt the first inkling of what would become my vocation. I felt the Lord speak to me in prayer about my relationship with Him — and, no, it's not a dramatic audible voice or anything like that! He simply said to me: You've given time to other boyfriends, but have you ever thought about me? How about you give me a chance? I had to listen. I had to give him the chance.
...
After World Youth Day, my faith was set ablaze, and I was thirsting to know more about what the Lord was asking of me.

Source: Carmen Briceno - As told to Lisa Marie Basile in Cosmopolitan magazine, "I Am Happily Married to God — as a Consecrated Virgin", 12 Sept 2016, http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a63987/married-to-god-consecrated-virgin/

Be the Bridge

Morrison’s mission was to enable racial reconciliation within local churches and develop resources for Christians who want to build cross-racial relationships. Since then, Be the Bridge has exploded in size and now serves the local church by providing curricula and other tools that encourage bridge builders to “[foster and develop] vision, skills, and heart for racial unity.”

Source: Christianity Today - "Latasha Morrison: The Church Is the ‘Only Place Equipped to Do Racial Reconciliation Well’", interview by Morgan Lee, January 2017, http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2017/january/latasha-morrison-church-is-only-place-equipped-to-do.html

I Love Working Here

Father Symonds was to be the first Catholic priest to give a sermon at Ballymena’s Methodist church for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Jan. 18-25.

“I love working here,” he said. “I’ve made great friendships, both within my own congregation and within the Protestant communities. Members of the Presbyterian Church have been particularly supportive of my ministry. I am convinced that I am doing what God has wanted me to do.”

Source: Catholic Review - "English priest receives awards for work in Northern Ireland", 5 Jan 2008, http://www.catholicreview.org/article/faith/vocations/english-priest-receives-award-for-work-in-northern-ireland#sthash.kh59mvOi.dpuf

Becoming a Catholic

Though my doubts were all resolved and the choice was made in 1959, my senior year at Calvin, actual membership came a year later, at Yale. My parents were horrified, and only gradually came to realize I had not lost my head or my soul, that Catholics were Christians, not pagans. It was very difficult, for I am a shy and soft-hearted sort, and almost nothing is worse for me than to hurt people I love. I think that I hurt almost as much as they did. But God marvelously binds up wounds.

Source: Peter Kreeft - Hauled aboard the Ark, http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/hauled-aboard.htm

Father Spencer

In 1838, Father Spencer instituted a great “Crusade of Prayer for the Conversion of England” and soon after being appointed as the chaplain to the seminarians at Oscott College in Birmingham, preached at St. Chad’s in Manchester on the need for unity between Catholics and Anglicans in England. He went to Oxford to talk to John Henry Newman, Vicar of St. Mary’s the Virgin, Fellow at Oriel, and leader of the Oxford Movement to discuss the goal of unity in truth but Newman refused to meet with him.
...
His zealous efforts in the cause of unity between Catholics and Protestants, and his desire for England’s conversion, have earned him the title of “Apostle of Ecumenical Prayer”.

Source: Stephanie Mann - Blog post 6 Sept 2016, "Servant of God Ignatius Spencer: Apostle of Ecumenical Prayer", http://www.ncregister.com/blog/stephaniemann/servant-of-god-ignatius-spencer-apostle-of-ecumenical-prayer

The Catholic Mystics

Then one summer, on the beach at Ocean Grove, New Jersey, I read St. John of the Cross. I did not understand much of it, but I knew, with undeniable certainty, that here was reality, something as massive and positive as a mountain range. I felt as if I had just come out of a small, comfortable cave, in which I had lived all my life, and found that there was an unsuspected world outside of incredible dimensions. Above all, the dimensions were those of holiness, goodness, purity of heart, obedience to the first and greatest commandment, willing God's will, the one absolute I had discovered, at the age of eight. I was very far from saintly, but that did not prevent me from fascinated admiration from afar; the valley dweller appreciates the height of the mountain more than the dweller on the foothills. I read other Catholic saints and mystics, and discovered the same reality there, however different the style (even St. Thérèse "The Little Flower"!) I felt sure it was the same reality I had learned to love from my parents and teachers, only a far deeper version of it. It did not seem alien and other. It was not another religion but the adult version of my own.

Source: Peter Kreeft - Hauled aboard the Ark, http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/hauled-aboard.htm

Gosh Darn Similar

Until I, as an evangelical Protestant, met some halfway decent Catholics I had no idea what they believed. Likewise, if it wasn’t for my Anglican friend I’d have no ideas how gosh darn similar we actually are.
It’s not until we actively begin to reach out and meet each other where we are that we can begin to take down these walls, brick by brick.

Source: K. Albert Little - The Cordial Catholic on Patheos, 1 May 2015, "Dear Christians: Take Our Unity Seriously, Because Everyone is Watching", http://www.patheos.com/blogs/albertlittle/dear-christians-take-our-unity-seriously-because-everyone-is-watching/

No Unity Without Clarity

Since his student days in Berlin, Bonhoeffer had been deeply involved in the emerging ecumenical movement, especially through the group called the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship Through the Churches. With some exceptions (the great Dominican Yves Congar being one), most Roman Catholics stood aloof from such movements. Bonhoeffer had been attracted to aspects of the Catholic Church since his first visit to St. Peter’s in Rome in 1924. He was also familiar with the Una Sancta movement, an effort to overcome confessional divisions through the renewal of faith among both German Protestants and Catholics, to establish “fraternity in Christ across all barriers.” While Bonhoeffer appreciated this effort, he had reservations about it. His main concern was not the goal, which he shared, but the lack of theological clarity. Without such clarity, he believed, no enduring unity could be built.

Source: Timothy George - "Bonhoeffer at Ettal: Advent", First Things, 12 Dec 2016, https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/12/bonhoeffer-at-ettal-advent-1940