The topic of the meeting: “The Holy Spirit as Gift”

• New release, “International Commission between the Disciples of Christ and the Catholic Church Holds Successful Second Session of Sixth Phase“
• If you would like to read Pope Francis’s official response to the Disciples Intervention, visit this website: Press Vatican
• The audience with Pope Francis has been featured on Vatican News: News Article
• Please follow this link to read the news release from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity: Website

       Third Session

 June 21-25, 2024
Nazareth Retreat Center, Grand Prairie, Texas, USA

The topic of the meeting: “A Personal and Communal Gift“

• News Release: International Dialogue Continues in Texas
• News Blurb of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity: Disciples of Christ-Catholic International Commission for Dialogue

       Fourth Session

June 27—July 1, 2025

Spiritual Center, St. norbert Abbey, De Pere, Wisconsin, USA

Topic of the meeting: “The role of the Holy Spirit in ordination from both theological and liturgical perspectives; and Scriptural basis, theological interpretations, liturgical practices, and historical understandings of Ordination”

• Press Release: International Commission for Dialogue between the Disciples of Christ and the Catholic Church

  

  Fifth Phase of Dialogue (2013-2018)

  For over 25 years, Disciples and Roman Catholics have been in dialogue, looking to the hope of realizing full visible unity in Christ. The fifth phase of the dialogue has been approved to begin in 2013 on the theme, “Christians Formed and Transformed by the Eucharist.”

  • Phase Proposal
  • List of the Disciples of Christ International Commission Members, 2013-2018

  Agreed Statement from This Phase

  • Do This In Memory of Me: Christians Formed and Transformed by the Eucharist
  • Commentary by Rev. Dr. Mark G. Toulouse on the Final Report
  • Catholic Commentary by Fr. Gilles Routhier

   

  First Session: Nashville, TN, USA; January 2014

  Second Session: Rome, Italy; June 2014

  News Release: Disciples – Catholic Dialogue Explores Being “Formed by the Eucharist”

  Third Session: Bethany, WV, USA; June 2015

  News Release: Catholics and Disciples of Christ Commission for Dialogue

  Fourth Session: Calgary, AB, Canada; June 2016

  News Release: Catholics and Disciples Commission for Dialogue

  Fifth Session: Bayamón, Puerto Rico; June 2017

  News Release: Catholics and Disciples Commission for Dialogue

  Sixth Session: Green Bay, WI, USA; June 2018

  News Release

  The final report was drafted and was shared with both communions for further reviews.

   

   

  Fourth Phase of Dialogue (2003-2008)

  Agreed Statement from This Phase

  The Presence of Christ in the Church with Special Reference to the Eucharist, 2009

   

  First Session: Bari, Italy; December 2004

  News Release: “An Advent Dialogue”: Disciples and Roman Catholic Launch New Phase of International Dialogue

  David M. Thompson (Fitzwilliam College – Cambridge, UK) Background

  Robert Louis Wilken (Christianity University of Virginia – Washington, DC) The Non-Eucharistic Presence of Christ in the Church

  Second Session: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; December 2005

  News Release: Growing convergence marks Disciples/Catholic Dialogue

  Bible Study: Fr. Abbot Denis Farkasfalvy (Our Lady of Dallas Abbey, Dallas, Texas) The Eucharistic Presence from a Biblical Perspective

  Bible Study: Merryl Blair (Churches of Christ Theological College – Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia) The Prodigal Gift: Bread of Life and the Eucharist

  Margaret O’Gara (University of St. Michael’s College – Toronto, Canada) The Presence of Christ in the Eucharist: A Roman Catholic Understanding

  William Tabbernee (Philips Theological Seminary – Tulsa, Oklahoma) The Presence of Christ in the Eucharist

  Third Session: Rome, Italy; June 2006

  News Release: Disciples-Catholic dialogue focuses on unity in Christ

  Bible Study: Merryl Blair (Churches of Christ Theological College – Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia) Unity in Christ: One Faith, One Baptism and the Eucharistic Koinonia

  Fr. Abbot Denis Farkasfalvy (Our Lady of Dallas Abbey, Dallas, Texas) Unity in Christ: One Faith, One Baptism, and the Eucharistic Koinonia

  Michael Kinnamon (Eden Theological Seminary – St. Louis, Missouri) Unity in Christ: Baptism, Faith, and the Eucharistic Koinonia

  Fourth Session: St. Louis, Missouri, USA; June 2007

  News Release: Disciples-Catholic Dialogue Explores the Relationship of Word and Sacrament

  Bible Study: Gosbert T.M. Byamungu (Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity) Walking Home with a Stranger: The Riddle of Emmaus

  David M. Thompson (Fitzwilliam College – Cambridge, UK) Word and Sacrament with special reference to the Eucharist – a Disciples Perspective

  Robert Louis Wilken (Christianity University of Virginia – Washington, DC) Word and Sacrament

  Fifth Session: Vienna, Austria; June 2008

  News Release: Disciples-Catholic Dialogue Explores the Presence of Christ in the ministry of the Church

  Bible Study: Merryl Blair (Churches of Christ Theological College – Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia) “According to the Order of Melchizedek”: Hebrews 7 and the Priesthood of Christ

  James O. Duke (Brite Divinity School – Ft. Worth, Texas) The Priesthood of Christ in Church and Ministry: A Disciples Perspective

  Aidan Nichols (Blackfriars – Cambridge, UK) The Priesthood of Christ in Church and Ministry

   

   

  First Three Phases (1979-2002)

  • First Phase (1977-1981): Catholicity and Apostolicity, 1982
  • Second Phase (1983-1992): The Church as Communion in Christ, 1992
  • Third Phase (1993-2002): Receiving and Handing on the Faith: the Mission and responsibility of the Church, 2002
  • The first three agreed statements were also published in Call to Unity (Issue 1; 2003).