The second meeting of the third phase of the international theological dialogue co-sponsored by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity took place from September 15 to 21 in Oegstgeest, The Netherlands.

The first phase of the dialogue (1970-1977), produced a report, The Presence of Christ in Church and World. The report of the second phase (1984-1990) was entitled Towards a Common Understanding of the Church. In its current phase, the dialogue is exploring the relationship of the church and the kingdom of God.

The co-chairs of the dialogue are Rev. Prof. Russel Botman (Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa) and Bishop Anthony Farquhar (auxiliary bishop, Catholic diocese of Down and Connor, Ireland).

At this meeting the dialogue focused on the theme "the kingdom of God as context for the church's common witness".

Papers included a biblical study on the kingdom presented by Rev. Prof. Bénedict T. Viviano OP (Fribourg, Switzerland), with a response by Rev. Dr Rathnakara Sadananda (Mangalore, India). Rev. Prof. Alasdair T.C. Heron, (Erlangen, Germany) presented a Reformed perspective on "Kingdom and church: the witness of the church fathers", to which Dom Michel Van Parys OSB (Chevetogne, Belgium) responded. A survey of "The kingdom of God in western catholic thought from the late middle ages to the present", given by Rev. Prof. William Henn OFM Cap (Rome, Italy), and another by Dr Heidi Hadsell (Céligny, Switzerland) on "Theology of the Reformed churches from 16th century to the present", offered more recent perspectives on the theme. Two papers explored the ethical and social implications of the kingdom of God: "Church and kingdom in recent Reformed theology and ethics: a marginal voice", by Dr Russel Botman; and "Kingdom of God as principle of action in the church", by Rev. Prof. John Fuellenbach SVD (Rome, Italy).

Other participants on the Reformed side included Rev. Prof. Leo J. Koffeman (Amersfoort, Netherlands), Rev. Dr Huang Po-Ho (Taipei, Taiwan), Rev. Maria Luisa Rückert (Espirito Santo, Brasil), Rev. Dr Peter Wyatt (Toronto, Canada) and Rev. Dr Milan Opocensky (Geneva, Switzerland), who served as co-secretary. Other Roman Catholics included Rev. Dr Henry O'Brien (Wishaw, Scotland), Sr Dr Donna Geernaert SC (Ottawa, Canada) and Msgr Dr John A. Radano (Rome, Italy), who served as co-secretary.

The meeting was hosted by the Netherlands Reformed Church and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. Participants had an opportunity to meet leaders from Dutch churches and participants in the national Roman Catholic-Reformed dialogue in the Netherlands. The next session of the international dialogue will be hosted by the Roman Catholic side in September 2000.