Bishops OK baptism pact with Reformed churches

In a "milestone" pact six years in the making, the U.S. Catholic
bishops ap­proved a mutual agreement with four Reformed Protestant
denominations to recognize each other's baptisms as valid.

The
American bishops, assembled in Baltimore for their annual fall meeting,
voted 204 to 11 on November 17 to ap­prove the baptism agreement with
the Pres­byterian Church (U.S.A.), the Re­formed Church in America, the
Christian Reformed Church and the United Church of Christ.

Archbishop
Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, chairman of the ecumenical and interfaith
committee of the U.S. Con­ference of Catholic Bishops, called the
agreement a "milestone on the ecumenical journey."