Ecumenical Dialogue and the "Insight Approach" to Conflict Mediation: A Suggestion Based on Lonergan for a Minor Methodological Innovation

"Receptive Ecumenism," as a methodology for ecumenical dialogue, appreciates and values the authentic witness of ecclesial traditions, communities, and identities. Receptive Ecumenism emphasizes the importance of self-examination and self-correction over and against any sense that these activities are the sole responsibility of the "other." Thus, there are notable affinities between Receptive Ecumenism and Bernard Lonergan's method of self-appropriation, which "catches oneself in the act" of the operations of consciousness and opens onto spaces for discernment, self-correction, heightened authenticity, and conversion. This essay proposes that the explicit and intentional inclusion of threat-to-care strategies, drawn from the "Insight approach" to conflict mediation based on Lonergan's method, might help the practice of Receptive Ecumenism achieve its aims.

precis:

"Receptive Ecumenism," as a methodology for ecumenical dialogue, appreciates and values the authentic witness of ecclesial traditions, communities, and identities. Receptive Ecumenism emphasizes the importance of self-examination and self-correction over and against any sense that these activities are the sole responsibility of the "other." Thus, there are notable affinities between Receptive Ecumenism and Bernard Lonergan's method of self-appropriation, which "catches oneself in the act" of the operations of consciousness and opens onto spaces for discernment, self-correction, heightened authenticity, and conversion. This essay proposes that the explicit and intentional inclusion of threat-to-care strategies, drawn from the "Insight approach" to conflict mediation based on Lonergan's method, might help the practice of Receptive Ecumenism achieve its aims.