In Major Shift, Baptist Group Backs Dialogue With Catholics : Ecumenism: The convention declaration acknowledges serious theological differences but affirms shared belief in major tenets of faith.

Southern Baptists and Roman Catholics can be more than political soul mates, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination has declared.

In a major step toward ecumenism, the Southern Baptist Convention said Thursday that “born-again” believers may be found in all Christian denominations, and endorsed Baptist-Catholic dialogue.

“We live in a land where there is a demonic onslaught against the forces of decency and righteousness, and we need to stand with good people together,” Timothy George, dean of Beesom Divinity School in Montgomery, Ala., told the convention on the final day of its 137th annual meeting.

The declaration overwhelmingly approved by about 7,500 convention delegates places no limits on the freedom of Baptists to persuade other Christians to switch churches. It also acknowledges serious theological differences with Catholics on such issues as papal infallibility and the relation between the Bible and church tradition.

Set against the historical enmity between the nation’s two largest religious groups, the formal declaration of the desire for dialogue was seen as historically significant.

“It certainly is a major step to consider whether members of other churches really are part of the Body of Christ,” said Father Frank Ruff of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Baptists and Catholics have had informal discussions since 1971, beginning with informal regional dialogues and progressing to national conversations between Catholic and Baptist scholars. This year, participants in a Catholic-Baptist dialogue jointly sponsored by the Baptist Home Mission Board and the bishops conference published pamphlets offering biblical reflections on social issues, including the environment and racism.

What brought the discussion into the forefront this year was a widely publicized appeal for closer relations signed by conservative Catholic leaders and prominent evangelicals, including Pat Robertson, Charles Colson and the heads of both the Home Mission Board and the Christian Life Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“As evangelicals and Catholics, we dare not by needless and loveless conflict between ourselves give aid and comfort to the enemies of Christ,” said the declaration.