Hello readers of 24-sevens forums. I found this article at
http://csda.us/Catholic-Adventist_Compromise.html
Apparently there was a debate between Adventist and Catholic authorities. It lasted 15 years ( Im not sure how often they met) By 2000 a document had been signed indicating some sort of agreement between the churches about their relationship. It was placed in the General Conference Website Feb. 15, 2000. Its contents seemed quite pleasant. “Lets be friends” or “Can’t we all get along” seemed to be the message. But God does not ask us to be the friend of other churches, I’m referring to the organization...the entity (Not the people IN the organization).
ADVENTIST NEWS NETWORK
(General Conference Web Site)
This Week’s News: Feb. 15, 2000
Warsaw, Poland. [ANN]
“Adventist Church Cannot Be Treated As a Sect,”
Say Adventists and Catholics In Poland.
“The Seventh-day Adventist Church cannot be treated either as a new religious movement,; or as a sect,” declares a joint statement drawn by the Roman Catholic Church and the [Seventh-day] Adventist Church in Poland.
[From] Adventist Headquarters in Warsaw Poland
Recognizing each other’s autonomy and independence, the document was issued following 15 years of dialogue aimed at better understanding of the teachings and practice of the Catholic and the Adventist Churches, as well as improving relations without compromising each other’s identity.
COMMENT:
This first paragraph reveals two important facts;. (1) Seventh-day Adventist Church leadership had been dialoging with the Roman Catholic Church for “15 years.” (2) The result of this dialogue is a “document\” of joint agreement. Rather than comment on this obvious breach of trust, we will let the inspired messenger to the Seventh-day Adventist Church comment.
“Romanism is now regarded by Protestants [Adventists] with far greater favor than in former years,” Ellen White wrote. “In those countries where Catholicism is not in the ascendancy, and the papists are taking a conciliatory course in order to gain influence, there is an increasing indifference concerning the doctrines that separate the reformed churches from the papal hierarchy; the opinion is gaining ground that, after all, we do not differ so widely upon vital points as has been supposed, and that a little concession on our part will bring us into a better understanding with Rome.” (Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, page 563, emphasis supplied).
“The time was when Protestants [Adventists] placed a high value upon the liberty of conscience which had been so dearly purchased,” Ellen concluded. “They taught their children to abhor popery and held that to seek harmony with Rome would be disloyalty to God. But how widely different are the sentiments now expressed!” (ibid., GC, p. 563, emphasis supplied).
Adventist News Network Continued
The document cites the fact that “relations between Catholics and Adventists have not been best in the past.” The statement was signed by representatives of the Churches, including Pastor Wladyslaw Polok, president of the [Seventh-day] Adventist Church in Poland, and Archbishop Alfons Nossol, chairman of the Polish Episcopate’s Commission for Ecumenical Affairs.
