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Harry E. Winter, OMI, Coordinator of the Ministry of Mission, Unity and Dialogue for the USA Province of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He serves in the Archdiocese of St. Paul, MN. Published in Ecumenical Trends 46 (March, 2017,3) 1/33-2/34,14/46,15/47.

Encounter and Dialogue as Part of the Ecumenical Imperative: Fr. Nicholas Gruner and His Lutheran Counterparts

I first came across the difference between "Encounter" and "Dialogue" when the visit of Pope Francis to the 9/11 Memorial at the NY Trade Center was being planned in September 2015.The Vatican's preparation used the term "Encounter," the US Bishops, "Dialogue." As I watched the actual service, especially Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove and Imam Khalid Latif going back and forth, it became clear that dialogue is a rational term involving mainly the head. Encounter is much more than rational. It involves the heart.¹

^{Then I saw Dr. John Borelli's article in
the October 2016 Ecumenical Trends: encounter "a broader
concept" than ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. Dr. Borelli linked
Pope Francis' use of the expression "a culture of encounter" to
"the steadfast accompaniment of one another,...a cooperative venture and a
profoundly and broadly engaging experience." 2}

^{A third surprise: Sr. Katarina Schuth's Seminary
Formation, with the article by Msgr. Peter Vaccari, "The Culture of
Encounter: The Future of Seminary Formation." Although Msgr. Vaccari never
defines what encounter means, it is clear that it involves a relationship.3}

^{Schuth's book also documents the
lessening impact of ecumenism and inter-faith studies in} ^USA ^{seminaries, and includes Fr. Ron
Rolheiser's almost damming indictment of seminarians today:}

^{"Ecumenism and interfaith outreach
are central to our catholicity and not a matter of choosing to be involved
depending on one's time, temperament and energy.}

^{I highlight this because I fear
indifference to ecumenism and interfaith outreach might be more the norm than
the exception. At the school where I teach, we host an evening of prayer for
church unity each January during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. We have
more than one hundred diocesan and religious seminarians studying at our school
and normally not a single seminarian shows up for this ecumenical event. It is
not that these seminarians are anti-ecumenical; it is rather that the whole
issue of other churches and other religions is simply not on their radar
screens."4}

^{A search on the internet reveals that
both English and Spanish include a secondary meaning for encounter and
encuentro: that of a struggle. To encounter someone or something has a hint
of strong difference.5}

^{A very negative article on our
Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue in The Fatima Crusader made me wonder if
ecumenism itself includes much more of encounter than we have been accustomed
to. The late Marian theologian Father Nicholas Gruner and his followers might
benefit from our encountering. Describing Pope Francis's visit to} ^Sweden ^{to take part in the joint worship service
of} ^{Oct. 31, 2016} ^{, John Vennari called it "the insanity
of today's practice of ecumenism." After several pages giving only the
worst of the old portrayal of Luther, Vennari quoted "a high Catholic
churchman" who praised Luther for his "deep religiousness."
Vennari called that praise "madness. " The footnote identifies the
churchman as Pope St. John Paul II.6}

^{While Lutherans may have only one tribe
of Fundamentalists (see below), God has blessed the Roman Catholic Church with
two: Those fixated on the Third Secret of Fatima, such as in The Fatima
Crusader, and those fixated on the Tridentine Mass. Pope Francis went
out of his way to encounter the latter, when he said that absolution granted by
the priests of the Society of St. Pius X would be valid during the Year of
Mercy. He then extended that to absolution from abortion.7}

^{In the} ^Midwest ^{, where I minister, we have not only the
moderate Lutherans of the} ^Evangelical ^Lutheran ^Church ⁱⁿ ^America ^{, who have signed the Joint Declaration on
the Doctrine of Justification, but the fundamentalist Lutherans of the Missouri
Synod and Wisconsin Synod, who have not. (The former are losing membership; the
latter seems to be growing).}

^{Lutheran scholar Martin Marty recently
noted that Lutherans in} ^Africa ^and ^Asia ^{now vastly outnumber Lutherans in the} ^USA ^{. And many in the} ^USA ^{are now Latino.8 As with the Anglican
Communion, more Lutherans in} ^Africa ^and ^Asia ^{than we suspect are probably tending
towards the right, away from their} ^USA ^{moderate counterparts.}

^{World-wide, the moderate ELCA belongs to
the Lutheran World Federation (whose members have signed the Joint Declaration);
the fundamentalist Missouri Synod to the International Lutheran Council and the
fundamentalist Wisconsin Synod to the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran
Conference, neither of which have signed.}

^{How do we support moderate Roman
Catholics and Lutherans who live next door or work with their fundamentalist
counterparts? Could we apply the spirituality of encounter to this situation?
The one favorable time is when tragedy strikes both, and forces us together. It
is especially then that our shared baptism and profession of faith in Jesus
Christ may overcome the prejudices and rigidity between the two groups.}

^{We may need to remember that
Fundamentalism has saved Christianity during several periods of our two thousand
year history. Fundamentalism rules when the organization is severely threatened
and its members circle the wagons. Unfortunately, when the danger is over, some
cannot come out.}

^{We have the challenge of living at a time
when five different ways of being Christian are present: catholic,
evangelical/charismatic,} ^Vatican ^{II/neo-orthodox, fundamentalist, and
liberal. This has only happened once or twice during our history, usually during
the few times of extended peace.9}

^{The growing spirituality of encounter
offers a way for all five to work together, to spread Christ's Good News. Dr.
Borelli sums it up very well, and introduces the bonding element of joy:}

^{"A culture of encounter seems to
have fewer limits than the previous efforts at dialogue, requires more complete
engagement and accompaniment, and focuses on immediate rather than long-term
goals. It requires participants to listen to one another carefully. There is an
emphasis on mutuality and mutual accountability. A culture of encounter requires
that spiritual engagement be an essential feature of all conversations. The joy
of the gospel pervades all these encounters."10}

^Notes:

^{1. For the} ^Vatican ^{version, see the} ^Vatican ^{website, Papal Visit to NY City,} ^{11:30 am} ^{Sept. 25, 2015} ^{, "Interreligious Encounter." For
the} ^USA ^{version, see Cindy Wooden, "Pope at
9/11 Memorial," Catholic News Service,} ^{Sept. 25, 2015} ^.

^{2. Dr. John Borelli, "The Paul
Wattson Lecture,} ^{San Francisco} ^{, Creating a Culture of Encounter: The Next
Steps for a World in Need of Dialogue," Ecumenical Trends 45 (Oct.
2016,9) 1/2, 129/30.}

^{3. Sr. Katarina Schuth, O.S.F., Seminary
Formation (Liturgical Press,} ^Collegeville ^, ^MN ^{, 2016), Msgr. Peter Vaccari, "The
Culture of Encounter: The Future of Seminary Formation," pp. 164-73.}

^{4. Schuth, Seminary Formation, pp.
30-31, 38, 113 for the decline of ecumenism in seminaries; Fr. Ron Rolheiser,
O.M.I., "Toward a Spirituality of Ecclesial Leadership," p. 127.}

^{5. Internet search using Merriam-Webster
Dictionary for both languages,} ^{Dec. 2, 2016} ^.

^{6. John Vennari, "Celebrating an
Apocalyptic Plague, The 500th Anniversary of the Lutheran Revolt," The
Fatima Crusader 116 (Autumn, 2016) 21, 27, 31 n.15.}

^{7. For the Year of Mercy provision, see
en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/09/01; for the extension, see}^{www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope}^extends, ^{Nov. 21, 2016} ^.

^{8. Dr. Martin E. Marty, "Reformation
Jostlings," Oct.31,2016,}^{https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/reformation-jostlings}^.

^{9. For the Biblical foundation and short
history of each of the five ways, see}^{www.harrywinter.org}^, ^{Five Ways} ^page.

^{10. Borelli, Ecumenical Trends 45
(Oct. 2016, 9) 8/136, citing "three concrete images ...of a culture of
encounter," from Diego Fares, S.J.: "church-bell thought, shoe-leather
thought, and friendly thought."}

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