CCT in the
USA
Excerpt from WWN 4(05)
(Wm. H. Grotheer)
This
title stands for "Christian Churches Together in the
U.S.A." It represents a new ecumenical organization to
which the Roman Catholic Church through its American Bishops has united. This
group - Evangelical, Orthodox, Pentecostal, mainline Protestant as well as
Roman Catholics - have written to "all Christians in the United States to
share [their] longing for an expanded Christian conversation" in the
United States. They declared themselves to be "Christians who long for
greater unity." They
indicated that this longing most clearly
points us to "something new" as a
possibility for the churches in the United States.
What does this “something new” involve? The Catholic News Service (CNS) for Nov.
18, 2004,
in reporting the decision of the US Catholic Bishops to join this new national
ecumenical forum, noted the comments of Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton,
California, who is chairman of the Committee on Ecumenical Affairs of the
Bishop's Conference. He emphasized that "for the Catholic Church the
ultimate goal of ecumenism is the full, visible unity of all Christian churches
in the one apostolic faith."
Bishop
Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, asked
"if the other churches in the CCT are aware of the perspective from which
the Catholic Church approaches the organization. To this question Blaire
responded that "not only are the other churches aware of the Catholic
view, but many of them also believe that full visible unity is the ultimate
goal and that organizations such as the CCT are only interim steps." The
CCT will seek to offer a "common witness" several ways, the first one
being "a common confession of faith in the Triune God."
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