Participants gather at Duke Divinity School.
Participants gather at Duke Divinity School.

Duke Divinity School hosted a weeklong international bilateral dialogue between Catholics and Baptists on Dec. 6-10. The meeting was the fourth annual session in the five-year series of the third phase of conversations between the Baptist World Alliance and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The North American participants, consisting of commission members from Jamaica, the U.S., and Canada, met in Durham where they were hosted by the Divinity School and its Baptist House of Studies. The Durham group was joined virtually by commission members from Argentina. A second working group met virtually during the same dates, with participation by commission members from Australia, India, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Poland.

Peter Casarella, professor of theology at Duke Divinity, was a Catholic participant. Curtis Freeman, research professor of theology and director of the Baptist House, and Elizabeth Newman, adjunct professor in Baptist studies, were among the Baptist participants.