ON March 29, 1994, Associated Press released a story that found its way into many of the major newspapers of the land. The subtitle from The Oregonian summarizes the heart of the story and reads as thus: "Catholic and evangelical leaders vow to join in a common bond to work toward shared values." The subtitle from the Times-News was stated thus: "Two groups look for ties that bind." Clearly the thrust of this press release is the new agreement that is taking place between Catholicism and Protestantism as they join hands on common points of belief.

Consider the following excerpts from the press release: "In what's being called a historic declaration, evangelicals including Pat Robertson and Charles Colson joined with conservative Roman Catholic leaders Tuesday in upholding the ties of faith that bind the nation's largest and most politically active religious groups." "In the last generation, it has been common for evangelicals and Catholics to work together on issues such as abortion, pornography, vouchers for religious education and voluntary school prayer."

"But evangelical leaders often placated their most conservative members with the assurance the alliance was only for practical ends. What's different in the statement is the effort to turn the theological swords honed over the centuries of conflict into a recognition of the common faith." "The statement does not gloss over theological differences between the two groups. . . Catholics and evangelicals in the United States, Eastern Europe, and South America, the declaration says `It is neither theologically legitimate nor a prudent use of resources' to proselytize among active members of another Christian community.

What has brought the two communities to this point, some of the signers said, are the experiences of worshipping together in the charismatic movement and working together in political causes such as the anti-abortion movement." "Evangelicals can no longer consider Catholics as ogres or anti-Christs," said Mark Noll, a historian at Wheaton College.

"John White, president of Geneva College and former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said that the statement represents a `triumphalistic moment' in American religious life after centuries of distrust. `I really do think it is a historic moment. I don't know of any other time in history when these two communities have stood together, spoken together' on matters of faith, White said."

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