Journeying Together: Pope Francis and the International Roman Catholic and World Methodist Bilateral

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Notes

Pope Francis, “Audience with the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See,” March 22, 2013, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2013/march/documents/papa-francesco_20130322_corpo-diplomatico.html.

Pope Francis, “Audience with Representatives of the Churches and Ecclesial Communities and of the Different Religions,” March 20, 2013, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2013/march/documents/papa-francesco_20130320_delegati-fraterni.html. The Pope went on to speak to Jewish, Muslim, and other religious representatives in attendance at this audience.

Pope Francis, “Homily, Celebration of Vespers on the Solemnity of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle,” January 25, 2014, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140125_vespri-conversione-san-paolo.html.

Each round is measured as a five-year period, corresponding with the quinquennial meetings of the World Methodist Conference at which the round’s report is received by the council. The report is subsequently reviewed and received by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. I served as the Methodist Co-Secretary and a commission member for the tenth round of the dialogue from 2012 to 2016 and continue for the eleventh round.

Reports are available on the World Methodist Council website (http://worldmethodistcouncil.org/resources/ecumenical-dialogues/ and on the Vatican website (www.vatican.va). Early reports can be found in the Growth in Agreement series compiled by the World Council of Churches. The synthesis text Together to Holiness: 40 years of Methodist and Roman Catholic Dialogue highlights the commission’s work from 1967 to 2006 but is not intended to supplant the individual reports.

For more information on the World Methodist Council, see http://worldmethodistcouncil.org/about/.

Works of John Wesley, vol. 10, ed. Henry D. Rack (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2011), 845. John Wesley (1703–1791), a priest of the Church of England, is considered the founder of the Methodist movement.

Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium [Dogmatic Constitution on the Church], November 21, 1964, chap. 5, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html.

Pope Francis, “Pastoral Visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Turin. Visit to the Waldensian Temple,” June 22, 2015, https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/june/documents/papa-francesco_20150622_torino-chiesa-valdese.html. Many of the pope’s comments on this occasion echo his statements in EG.

Vatican Radio, August 24, 2015, http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/08/24/pope_sends_greetings_to_waldensian_synod/1167032.

The World Methodist Council, in 2006, formally signed a Statement of Association with the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. The original document was signed by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church in 1999.

Pope Francis, “Address to the Delegation of the World Methodist Council,” April 7, 2016, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2016/april/documents/papa-francesco_20160407_consiglio-metodista-mondiale.pdf.

Joint International Commission for Dialogue, The Call to Holiness: From Glory to Glory (Lake Junaluska, NC: The World Methodist Council, 2016), http://worldmethodistcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/The-Call-to-Holiness-Final-copy-28062016.pdf.

See “Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ of the Holy Father Francis on Care for Our Common Home,” http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html.

Ibid., § 66––quoted in Call to Holiness, § 22 (see n. 13).

Pope Francis, The Name of God Is Mercy: A Conversation with Andrea Tornielli, trans. Oonagh Stransky (New York: Random House, 2016), 34; cited in Call to Holiness, § 33 (see n. 13).

Pope Francis, “Interview with Antonio Spadaro, SJ,” August 19, 2013, https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2013/september/documents/papa-francesco_20130921_intervista-spadaro.html.

Call to Holiness, § 101 (see n. 13).

“The Nature and Purpose of Ecumenical Dialogue: A JWG Study,” Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches, Eighth Report 1999–2005 (Geneva: WCC, 2005), 73–89, § 20, https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/commissions/jwg-rcc-wcc/eight-report-of-the-joint-working-group.

Call to Holiness, Preface (see n. 13).

See Francis’ interesting comparison of “pilgrims” and “drifters” in EG, § 170.

Subheadings in chapter 2 of Call to Holiness display this understanding of God’s initiative of salvation as God supplies the necessary grace that “enables,” “justifies,” and “sanctifies.” On the Methodist via salutis, see Ted A. Campbell, Wesleyan Beliefs: Formal and Popular Expressions of the Core Beliefs of Wesleyan Communities (Nashville, TN: Kingswood Books, 2010), 63–85.

See Vatican Radio, May 24, 2016: http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/05/24/pope_francis_holiness_is_courage,_hope,_daily_conversion_1232033.

Nevertheless, several sections of Call to Holiness (§§ 127–129, §§ 160–164) detail differences between Methodist and Catholic views of Mary (see n. 13).

Pope Francis, “General Audience,” November 19, 2014, § 3, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20141119_udienza-generale.html.

John Wesley, Preface, Hymns and Sacred Poems (London: Strahan, 1739), viii; cited in Call to Holiness, § 19 (see n. 13). See also Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, “Liturgical Expressions of Care for the Poor in the Wesleyan Tradition: A Case Study for the Ecumenical Church,” Worship 69, no. 1 (1995): 51–64.

Pope Francis, “Audience to Representatives of the Communications Media,” March 16, 2013, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2013/march/documents/papa-francesco_20130316_rappresentanti-media.html. The phrase is also cited in EG, § 198.

Pope Francis, “Address to the Delegation of the World Methodist Council,” April 7, 2016, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2016/april/documents/papa-francesco_20160407_consiglio-metodista-mondiale.pdf.

Pope Francis, “Address in Assisi for the World Day of Prayer for Peace,” September 20, 2016, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2016/september/documents/papafrancesco_20160920_assisi-preghiera-pace.html.

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Karen B. Westerfield Tucker

Karen Westerfield Tucker is professor of worship at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts. A past president of Societas Liturgica and past editor of Studia Liturgica, she is currently engaged in ecumenical dialogues at both international and national levels.