Mary for the Love and Glory of God

Thirty years ago, Dr. Eric Kemp, Executive Co-Chairmen of the ESBVM and also Anglican Bishop of Chichester at that time, along with Dr. Gordon Wakefield, Principal of Queen’s College, Birmingham, UK, both gone to God, and the surviving Dr. Mervyn Alexander, Roman Catholic Bishop Emeritus of Clifton, UK offered recognition of the work of the ESBVM as a serious discussion on the place of Mary which should not be merely a peripheral subject, but treated with care as it was in the ESBVM. They pointed out that, “In the course of our meetings all the central Christian doctrines come under scrutiny. We have also been led into many highways and byways of art, history, literature and science! More than ever we are convinced that Mary represents a way forward in ecumenical relations.”

This claim can be made of ESBVM efforts of recent time as well and very much for the essays furnished in this collection. If the ESBVM is faithful to its task, it moves away from the mere criticism of excess that particular traditions had once made, albeit as a desire for correction, while lamentably often losing sight of the purpose of renewal, which was to recover the value then at risk and not, as sometimes happened, totally to discard it. These papers once again endeavor to help all look afresh at sources of strength and insight in various traditions that sometimes have been reduced to a silence about the Blessed Virgin Mary, that was often mistaken and self-impoverishing, but also to that transition in devotion to the Mother of God from East to West that Newman saw as an enrichment that came gradually and later.

The historic first holding of our International ESBVM Congress in the United States of America was a remarkable moment. We hope without hubris that we might say that the long tradition of international congresses presented by our society has been a rich contribution to the particular work of Ecumenism in which we are engaged as an international society now in our 43rd year. The fact that the 16th Congress broke new ground in being held in the USA was the culmination of a long standing participation from its inception by members of the society in the States, including distinguished ecumenists, to mention but a few, such as Dr. Donald Dawes, Rev. Ross McKenzie, Fr. Fred Jelly, OP and Fr. Eamon Carroll, OCarm., some now gone to Lord, who were generous travelers to the early congresses held in the UK and Ireland and enthusiastic encouragers of ecumenical exchange in groundbreaking times. New and equally distinguished contributors are emerging today and a fresh impetus to efforts in the USA and in Europe can rightly be expected.

A wonderful fare of reflection and prayer emerged at the 2008 ESBVM Congress as is evidenced in the following pages, and the whole of our Society will undoubtedly benefit from its having taken place. The appearance of the papers in published form will now benefit a wider audience, too, which is one of the key purposes of holding the international congresses.

The task of achieving publication of papers is often a daunting one, and the indefatigable efforts of the editors in this case in the face of not a few difficulties are to be more than commended. The papers brought together in this volume are wide-ranging. The original topic of the congress dealt with ‘Daughter of Zion: Mother of the New Creation’ with which the ‘glory’ part of the collection’s title resonates and various presenters touched a thread dealing with ‘mediation’ echoed in the ‘love of God’ part of the title. The focus of the ten contributors whose material is included ranges from ecumenism per se and its history within certain traditions to recent Mariological work in which the writers had been engaged, and crucially much of this has been usefully ecumenical too. The representation of Christian traditions reflecting the membership of the ESBVM and an awakening interest across the Christian communities is evidenced in the material at hand, and the readiness to discuss issues with freshness and new insights demonstrates the value of drawing together on these occasions of exchange.

The Constitution of The Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary indicates that it exists to advance the study at various levels of the place of the Blessed Virgin in the Church under Christ, and of related theological questions; and in the light of such study to promote ecumenical devotion. Over this past decade and earlier, various dialogues have taken up the question of Mary, and we see that greater understanding with regard to the place of Mary in the Church has resulted. The papers brought together in the 16th International Congress stand well in that continuing effort and foster that wish that the Blessed Virgin should not be a source of division, but rather a central force for communion among those who acknowledge her Son Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.