"This issue of Theology Today [April 2001] probes the culture war raging in the churches." In a balanced and interesting way, writers of different points of view discuss the cultural conflicts within the churches often mentioned to me by Consortium faculty and administrators.

"We cannot divorce this individual reconciliation from the broader issues of world peace. The challenge to the church, especially here in the land of the Holy One, is to realize its own unity and its own reconciliation. The more divided we are, the less effective we can be in the world. And if the church is defective in reconciling power through its own divisions, that only brings us the more quickly to our knees." Riah Abu Al-Assal, the Anglican bishop in Jerusalem, makes this and other important points in his pithy article "Peace-Making in Conflict Situations: Theological and Ethical Reflections" [the Ecumenical Review, 53/2 (April 2001): 202-205. This issue of the Ecumenical Review devotes itself to The Decade to Overcome Violence of the World Council of Churches.

John Ford of Catholic University offers "A Roman Catholic Vision of the Ecumenical Movement" in the March 2001 Ecumenical Trends. In an interesting analogy, he compares the ecumenical movement to a family reunion!

Cardinal Avery Dulles examined the question of "Dialogue" in the third Catholic Common Ground Initiative Annual Lecture at Georgetown University on June 22. Dulles examined three types of dialogue. Monika Hellwig, former Vice-Chair of the Consortium Board, offered the response. This concise discussion offers helpful views on this important ecumenical topic. [The texts are available in booklet form from CCGI, 18 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012-2404.]

In "The Church and the Jews: Reflections by David Berger and Walter Kasper,"[with an introduction by Eugene J. Fisher], two leading thinkers confront issues raised by the Vatican Declaration Dominus Jesus in a clear and forceful way. [America, September 17, 2001, pp.6-14]. Berger does not find the position plausible "that Dominus Jesus is not formulated with Jews in mind." Kasper states that"...presence and witness, prayer and liturgy, dialogue and social work, which are all part of evangelization, do not have the goal of increasing the number of Catholics."