Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Symposium is September 26

The Edmundite Center for Faith and Culture at Saint Michael’s College will host a Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Symposium at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, September 26 in the Roy Room of the Dion Family Center on campus.

The occasion for this symposium is commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. In the preface to Declaration on the Way: Church, Ministry and Eucharist, published in 2015 by the task force entrusted with the writing of Declaration on the Way, the members of the task force used the image of a journey begun in 1965 by Lutherans and Catholics following the Second Vatican Council.  The statement developed by the task force recognizes all the contributions that have been made by others on the way in the dialogue begun five decades ago and summarizes where the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue stands at this time.

The Saint Michael’s College symposium on the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue brings together two bishops and two theologians, representing both the Lutheran faith and the Catholic faith, who will share their thoughts on ecumenism and the state of the dialogue between Lutherans and Catholics.

Bishop Christopher Coyne, ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, will offer a welcome and share remarks on ecumenism in the Diocese of Burlington. Bishop Coyne earned a bachelor’s degree from UMass Lowell and a Master’s of Divinity from St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, MA. He also has a doctorate in liturgy (SLD) from the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome.  Bishop Coyne was elected chairman of the Committee on Communication of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2014.  Pope Francis named Coyne bishop of the Diocese of Burlington in 2014 and he was installed as bishop on January 29, 2015.

Bishop James Hazelwood will speak about the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue from the perspective of a pastor in the Lutheran Church and at this time bishop of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.  Bishop Hazelwood earned a bachelor’s degree from California Lutheran College in Thousand Oaks, CA. He attended Union Theological Seminary and earned a Master of Divinity degree at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, CA. He holds a doctorate degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. Bishop Hazelwood was elected June 9, 2012, as bishop of the New England Synod to serve a six-year term.

Dr. Joy Schroeder will address significant recent developments: Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (1999); From Conflict to Communion; and particularly Declaration on the Way (2015), with some depth about how the declaration emerged, her own experience working on the document, what the document is, and futures for the document.  Dr. Schroeder received her undergraduate degree from Lutheran College, in Decorah, IA, and hold an MDiv degree from Princeton Theological Seminary.  Both Dr. Schroeder’s MA and PhD degrees are from Notre Dame University.  Dr. Schroeder is a professor of history at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, OH.

Christian Washburn, PhD, will address how the Catholic community has benefited from the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue and the challenges ahead.  Washburn will also consider the history of ecumenism in the Catholic Church, the contribution of the Second Vatican Council to the ecumenical movement, and finally where we find ourselves today. Washburn received his MA degree from Saint Thomas Seminary in St. Paul, MN and holds a PhD degree from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.  He has been a representative of the Roman Catholic Church in the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue and now teaches at St. Paul Seminary at the University of Saint Thomas in St. Paul, MN.