On August 12th, at 4:00 p.m., an undetermined number of Christian ministers will gather at Ignatius House, the Jesuit Retreat House, for two and a half days of meditations and discussions on matters pertaining to Christian unity. In 1959 Pope John XXIII gave a great impetus to Christian unity in calling the Ecumenical Council. Shortly after calling the Council he set up the secretariat on Christian Unity with Augustin Cardinal Bea as its head. Since then the dialogue between Catholic priests and Protestant ministers has taken on new life. With the Council Pope John called for “an opening of the Church,” “a going out” to our separated brethren.

One of the ways in which this is done is to invite Christian ministers to assemble in a retreat house for meditation and discussion on matters pertaining to Christian Unity. This has been done in Covington, Kentucky; Faulkener, Maryland; and Albany, New York. Now it is being done in Atlanta, Georgia.

In the past five months there have been three dialogue meetings at which individual ministers and priests of various denominations were present. These meetings lasted an hour or more and covered matters pertaining to the doctrines in which we agree and a few in which we disagree.

In the middle of June, Father John L. Hein, S.J., director of Ignatious House, who had participated in the dialogues, sent invitations to almost 400 Protestant ministers. The invitation is to spend two and one half days in meditation with five discussion periods on matters ecumenical. The response has been gratifying. Although many who responded could not attend, a sincere interest has been expressed in this type of work.

Father Harold L. Cooper, S.J., professor of philosophy at Loyola University of New Orleans, will give the retreat meditations. Father John L. Hein, S.J. will act as chairman of the discussions.