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This is a book of brief, personal testimonies from Irish Roman Catholics who are involved with a movement called Evangelical Catholic Initiative (ECI). They have remained faithful members of the Catholic church while identifying themselves as "Evangelicals." In the face of the ongoing efforts to wreck the peace and thwart reconciliation in Northern Ireland, the testimonies gathered here—and endorsed by leading Irish Protestants—compel notice.
The underlying question this book addresses has troubled Protestants since the Reformation: Can Catholics be considered "Christians"? After all, if their church is "the Whore of Babylon" and the focal point of their corporate worship life is "idolatry," there can't be much hope for folk who stay within so significantly flawed a church. This was, and is, an important question because a vital aspect of Protestant self-understanding and public presentation has been, and is, anti-Catholicism.
Adventures in Reconciliation is particularly important for the light it sheds on the "state of play" regarding this underlying question. There are prefatory commendations by leading Irish Evangelicals: Trevor Morrow, Presbyterian; Ken Wilson, Methodist; Paul Reid, Independent Evangelical; Harold Miller, Anglican Church of Ireland. Then, there is an effusive foreword from Ken Newell, Presbyterian pastor from Belfast, whose towering integrity in the Evangelical movement lends instant credibility to the book.
Trevor Morrow writes, "I, as a Presbyterian, unequivocally accept and affirm with joy and enthusiasm these Roman Catholic believers as my brothers and sisters in Christ." But these Catholics are self-proclaimed Evangelicals, (i.e., they have come to "know the Lord as personal Savior"); would "regular" Catholics in good standing also be welcomed as fellow Christians?
The preface by Cardinal Cahal Daly focuses on that very question. I understand that Cardinal Daly was not initially enthusiastic about the book, and his preface shows that ambivalence. He begins by confessing "to be 'allergic' to some of the language and some of the manifestations of the Evangelical tradition." While he affirms the worth of conversion experiences and of the charismatic movement, he also writes that, for himself, he cannot distinguish the experience of Jesus as personal Savior from the experience of life in the visible church; or the presence and power of the Spirit in his own life from life in the church: or "baptism in the Spirit" from a growing awareness of the meaning of sacramental baptism for his adult life. So, the question—still unresolved—continues as a kind of motif: Are ordinary Catholics acceptable to Protestants, or only those who have come through some personal or institutional connection with the Evangelical and/or charismatic movement?
That question aside, the testimonies themselves are worthy of attention. As could be expected, there is a large range of experiences disclosed, from suburbanites called to lead a religiously inclusive prayer group to ex-terrorists now working together across sectarian lines for the cause of Christ. I have been in meetings in Northern Ireland and have heard the testimonies of five of the writers presented here. In print, they are gripping; in person, they are incredibly moving. Let me share three with you, two from people previously unknown to me, and one whom I have met.
Harry McCann has been called by many people "an icon of grace." He was the victim of a random, sectarian bombing. He was literally thrown up into the air when a bomb, tied to his ignition, exploded when he started his car. His massive injuries are obvious to those who meet him. His legs were amputated at the thighs, and today he walks very laboriously with walking sticks and artificial legs. Yet, his Catholic faith has deepened in this tragedy. He has forgiven those who tried to kill him. He appears regularly at meetings dedicated to the reconciliation of Protestants and Catholics. Harry would portray himself as an ordinary man, and in many ways he is. But I can attest that, in the presence of Harry McCann, the darkness is less and the light is more. For all the pains Harry suffered, about which he doesn't complain, the one hurt he will mention in public is that of Protestants asking if he really can be a Christian in "that" church.
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