Representatives from the Baptist World Alliance have hold annual meetings with counterparts from the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Last year's meeting, held in Rome in December, took up the question of “Oversight and Primacy in the Ministry of the Church.”
Some may well wonder what Baptists and Catholics have to say to each other, especially about “primacy” (referring to the primacy of Peter or the pope).
Adherents of both traditions have entertained stereotypes about the other. I recall thinking as a child that Catholics were not quite Christian because they worshiped Mary and believed in works-righteousness (both of which are not actually Catholic teaching). And I have been with Catholics who regarded Baptists as followers of a different faith.
Mindful as we are of the real division between Baptist and Catholic Christians, we must be more mindful still of the prayer of Jesus that all his disciples be one. And we must remember that such unity is essential to God’s salvific intentions for the world.
The challenge in ecumenical conversation is how to receive the gift of unity in the midst of our present brokenness. As with any physical illness, it will not suffice to ignore the wounds or pretend that the “other” is not really a part of the body. Rather, healing occurs by attending to the wounds, but seeking to do so in a way that heals.
Even so, reconciliation can be a daunting - even discouraging - task.
At one point in our recent conversations, I wondered how Baptists and Catholics could ever come to a meeting of minds concerning “oversight”.
For Catholics, “oversight,” of course, involves the pope and the College of Bishops, while for most Baptists such offices can seem alien, if not unnecessary.
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