Anabaptist leader builds bridges with the new Pope
-20/04/05
A leading thinker and pastor working with Anabaptist communities in the US and beyond has welcomed the appointment of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the new Pope, Benedict XVI.
Historically Anabaptists (who form believersí churches, emphasise discipleship and practice common life and pacifism) have been at loggerheads with Protestant state churches and with Rome. They have been bitterly persecuted for their dissent.
But Johann Christoph Arnold says that ëas a non-Catholic and on behalf of the Bruderhof Communities, I want to extend to him my best wishes and congratulations, and to let him know that he will be in our prayers in the busy days to come.í
The Bruderhof, a small network of intentional communities, has branches in New York and Pennsylvania in the United States, and also in England, Germany, and Australia.
Johann Christoph Arnold formed a bond with the man he calls ëBrother Josephí in 1995 and has met him on four occasions. In a letter responding to a book Arnold sent him, the former Cardinal expressed pleasure at ëthe harmony of moral conviction that springs from our common faith in Christí, and acknowledged the reality of persecution.
One of the meetings was with an Anabaptist delegation to talk with senior Catholics. Part of the history of bloodshed they endured occurred in the area of Munich where Ratzinger came from, and the delegation included people whose forefathers had been burned at the stake.
Arnold remembers that by the end of the meeting the Cardinal had tears in his eyes, and that his words to the delegation were of reconciliation: ëWhen hatred can be overcome and forgiveness be given, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. Then we know that we are in Christ.í
ëIt is just this message that the world needs today,í says Arnold, adding that ëthe answers to the challenges and crises of our present age will not be found in compromise, but in returning to the simple and age-old truths of Jesus.í
The Bruderhof leader continues: ëThe press has been quick to characterize Ratzinger as an inflexible and mean-spirited theologian, but I know him to be different. On one visit to him I was accompanied by one of my first grandsons, a boy who is healthy now but who had been born prematurely and had a very rough beginning. I asked Brother Joseph to bless him, and he is now a strapping fourth grader who throws a ball, plays chess, and proudly strums on a guitar. Who knows how much the heartfelt prayer of this old man helped?í
But, continues Brother Johann, ëI cannot agree with the new Pope on every pointófor example, on his views of liberation theologyóbut I still respect and admire him.í
ëPeople think that the Church can give them peace and freedom by releasing them from every obligation of marriage, family, and education; by throwing away as old-fashioned any reverence for the holiest moments of living and dying. But Jesus offers us a far better way, as Ratzinger so eloquently said when I met with him in Rome in 1995,í he adds.
Among Anabaptists worldwide Bruderhof communities hold more conservative views on the role of women and sexuality. They have traditionally been pietist, and part of the strand of radical Reformation which saw itself as neither Catholic nor Protestant, but as a return to first-century Christianity.
However the Bruderhof have gained an increasing reputation for spiritually rooted engagement with political issues of justice and peace. They have formed strong and surprising ecumenical affinities with Catholics (including people like Thomas Merton and Oscar Romero, of whom the new Pope would be suspicious) as well as Buddhists.
Bruderhof communities stress peacemaking, and though centred strongly on faith in Jesus Christ, they seek to build bridges to those who share their values in other places and traditions.
Better known strands of the Anabaptist tradition of Christianity include the Mennonites and the Brethren in Christ. Ekklesia links with the Anabaptist Network in the UK and to initiatives such as Christian Peacemaker Teams.