Dialogue as Common Ground
By Frances Forde Plude
When we use the term ‘dialogue’ we are obviously referring to a communication practice. There is an interesting dialogic process underway which has had profound implications for the U.S. Catholic Church.
The Catholic Common Ground Initiative
Begun under the leadership of the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the Common Ground initiated many different projects, tasks, and communities of dialogue within the Catholic Church. It was not itself, a project, with a specific task to be completed; it was, rather, a stimulus to many different discussion forums. The direction of this initiative was transferred to the Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. The earlier archive material now resides at the University of Notre Dame.
The statement inaugurating the initiative was entitled “Called to be Catholic: Church in a Time of Peril” and was reprinted in America magazine (August 31, 1996). There was a powerful response. Within a few months there were about four hundred thousand copies of the statement in print and it was featured widely in the press, and on radio and TV. In its early stages almost two thousand people downloaded the statement from the electronic home page of the Archdiocese of Chicago. It has now been translated into many other languages.
What Does Dialogue Mean?
We have often noted that some people are uneasy about how to dialogue about a church’s authoritative teaching. Some felt this would resort to bitter debates rather than healthy respectful discussion. Cardinal Bernardin responded: “… the statement’s call to dialogue within the church does not legitimate dissent any more than does dialogue with other faith traditions. …the premise of our statement is that many serious disagreements that exist among Catholics do not necessarily involve dissent in the sense of a clear departure from authentic teaching. The statement recognizes the legitimacy, even the value, of disagreements when the discussion takes place within boundaries.”
The Catholic Common Ground Initiative sponsored an annual symposium and published several books: one includes all the foundational documents, the other, Church Authority in American Culture, includes the documents and discussion of one symposium. One meeting, had the theme Celebrating Sunday Eucharist.
Many national organizations have sponsored Common Ground events of their own. Colleges and universities have sponsored such events. The Odyssey cable channel broadcast twelve programs featuring discussions. Most important for local communities, seven videotapes – with discussion guides – were available.
Suzanne can suggest some ways that parishes can work toward their own “common ground.”
By Suzanne Nelson
The parish where I minister is on a beautiful barrier island off Florida’s Atlantic coast, filled with the frequent song of the mockingbirds. They sing the songs of all the other birds, stringing exact repetitions of the notes together as if they had little tape recorders in their heads.
I listened to one of them at the pool today. I didn’t see or hear any other birds while the mockingbird was singing. I imagined they were listening carefully to how their songs were rendered and being amazed at how well all the different tunes fit together.
There is something healing and affirming about playing or hearing one’s own “tune” played and finding how it fits into the whole scheme of things. If parish ministers facilitate that process for individuals and groups, they are, I believe, building common ground.
Three personal perspectives may help:
Accept the fact that pluralism is a reality in today’s culture and in today’s church. Celebrate it. Make room for it. But do not fear or run from it. This attitude will keep two negative P’s in check: polarization and partisanship.
Be convinced that God can bring order out of chaos. “Ultimately, the fresh eyes and changed hearts we need…emerge in the space created by praise and worship.” (cf. Called to be Catholic, p10)
Know that you can’t do everything but you can choose to do something to make the common ground of our faith more visible.
There are two practical things to do right now:
Gather project teams consisting of people from various styles of spirituality to head up three or four programs in the works for the coming year. For example, the Parish Mission, Family Picnic, or a Millennium New Year’s Eve celebration for the whole parish. These bigger projects get people out of their smaller, more homogeneous groups and draw them into dialogue and ministry with new and old friends.
Test your marketing for approaches that are inclusive. Avoid language and images that turn off certain groups, such as youth, the elderly, women, or those who don’t have an MA in theology.
As we search for new ways to identify and celebrate our common ground as a church we remember that the church is a body, an organism, and each member has a song that needs to be heard.