Catholic, Reformed agree on approach to baptism

Leaders of Catholic and Reformed churches have signed an agreement to recognize each other’s sacraments of baptism—a public step toward unity among groups that are often divided by doctrine.

“Baptism establishes the bond of unity existing among all who are part of Christ’s body and is therefore the sacramental basis for our efforts to move towards visible unity,” reads the Common Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Baptism.

The document was signed, after seven years of discussion, at a worship service January 29 at St. Mary Cathedral in Austin, Texas, which opened the annual meeting of Christian Churches Together in the USA, an ecumenical network created in 2001.