The Catholic Common Ground Initiative is an intra-ecclesial relations effort launched in 1996 by the National Pastoral Life Center. Its original goal was to dialogue with dissenting Catholics on a variety of unresolved issues that came about in the years following the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

. One of its most notable proponents was the late Cardinal

Joseph Bernardin Joseph Louis Bernardin (April 2, 1928 – November 14, 1996) was an American Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Cincinnati from 1972 until 1982, and as Archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until his death in 1996 from ...

of Chicago. This initiative was met with strong opposition from leading bishops in the United States. Cardinals

William Wakefield Baum William Wakefield Baum (November 21, 1926 – July 23, 2015) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in Missouri (1970–1973) and archbishop of the Archdiocese of Wa ...

James Aloysius Hickey James Aloysius Hickey (October 11, 1920 – October 24, 2004) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Washington from 1980 to 2000, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1988. Hickey previously serve ...

, and

Bernard Francis Law Bernard Francis Law (November 4, 1931 – December 20, 2017) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, known largely for covering up the serial rape of children by Catholic priests. He served as Archbishop of Boston, archpri ...

were especially opposed to any undesirable concessions regarding Catholic teachings on

moral theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics"/ref> A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply sati ...

. The ''

New Oxford Review The ''New Oxford Review'' is a magazine of Catholic cultural and theological commentary.Ronald Lora, William Henry Longton, ''The conservative press in twentieth-century America'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, p. 20/ref>Mary Jo Weaver, ''Bein ...

'' was also opposed to it. Its current purpose and central mission is "to promote dialogue within the Church on a variety of theological and social issues, including the changing roles of women, human sexuality, healthcare reform, and immigration—challenges facing not just the American Catholic Church but the United States as a whole." Since 2009, the CCGI has been a pivotal component of The Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry, housed at

Catholic Theological Union Catholic Theological Union (CTU) is a private Roman Catholic graduate school of theology in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the largest Catholic graduate schools of theology in the English speaking world and trains men and women for lay and orda ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

National Pastoral Life Center

The National Pastoral Life Center was an organization whose goal was to serve the leadership of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

's pastoral ministry, particularly in parishes and diocesan offices. It was founded in 1983 by Rev. Msgr. Philip J. Murnion with the help of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. It was the publisher of '' Church magazine''. In 1996, the NPLC created a debate in the Church by proposing the Catholic Common Ground Initiative, whose goal was dialogue with dissenting Catholics on a variety of unresolved issues that came about in the years following the

. This initiative was met with strong opposition from leading bishops in the United States. In November 2009, it was announced that the NPLC was closing down after 25 years of service to the Catholic Church in the United States.National Pastoral Life Center closing down
/ref>

References

External links

Catholic Common Ground InitiativeBernardin Center for Theology and Ministry
Catholic Church in the United States Catholic theology and doctrine {{Catholic-Church-stub

National Pastoral Life Center

See also

References

External links