You go, Chuck

Great article. It looks as if the bigotry of the secular world might lead to a chance for reconciliation between the Christian faiths. How great would that be? Two birds with the one stone.

In Delaware, the grassroots organization fighting against somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and research cloning is called A Rose & a Prayer (ARAAP). It was started by Catholics, and last year was made up mostly of Catholics although it was intended to be ecumenical.

This year, ARAAP spent a lot of time doing outreach to Christian evangelical churches. As a result, two weeks ago 400 people from churches all over Delaware -- including significant groups from four evangelical churches -- converged on Dover to hand out 2500 roses to state representatives, each rose tagged with the name & address of a constituent who was praying that the cloning bill be defeated.

I am very excited by this collaboration with evangelical Christian churches. I have seen examples of evangelicals starting off with suspicions towards us Catholics and ignorance of all things Catholic. I have seen barriers broken and suspicions overturned. I am rejoicing for what I see, in Delaware, is a collaboration among Catholic and non-Catholic Christian churches that is unique to my 57 years of experience. I am learning a lot about evangelical Christian thought and practice, also. I find I have prejudices and pre-conceived notions also that need to be broken down.

I wrote to an evangelical friend just yesterday that the one silver lining behind the cloud of evil stirred up by the culture of death may just be that we Christians learn how to respect each other and work together across denominational barriers. I was inviting this particular young man to investigate the claims of Catholicism, which he is not ready to do although he is open to the possibility. But he sent me, in return, an MP3 file which was a homily from an evangelical on the subject of Christian unity. It was eye-opening, and not in a bad way. Another evangelical Christian friend wrote to me recently that "God has been very busy with us in the last year, connecting us with passionate Christians in all varieties of denominations. He's clearly 'up to something' that has nothing to do with doctrinal quibbling, and everything to do with Jesus.."

Worm, I think we'll see more and more rapproachment between Catholics and Evangelicals as time goes on. Socially, a common enemy always brings disparate groups together. That is why the Balkans descended into war when the Soviet Union broke up, same with Iraq. Whether this will cause a unification of church is another question.