{"id":50711,"date":"2020-01-24T13:36:39","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T19:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=50711"},"modified":"2020-01-31T13:49:32","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T19:49:32","slug":"an-ecumenical-spring-time-in-the-vatican","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/24\/an-ecumenical-spring-time-in-the-vatican\/","title":{"rendered":"An Ecumenical Spring Time in the Vatican?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Brian Flanagan<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much Catholic media attention has focused upon the final document of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region, with its newsworthy recommendations about the possible ordination of married men and reopening the conversation of ordaining women as deacons (and, incidentally, ignoring many of the other substantive sections in the document about cultural, ecological, and ecclesial conversion to a greater living out of the Gospel in the region\u2026). Everyone wonders what Pope Francis will do with the synod\u2019s recommendations, as we anxiously await his post-synodal apostolic exhortation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But another Vatican text<\/a>, dated October 18, 2019, and received with much less fanfare on while the Catholic media was focusing on the Amazon synod, is as significant to the future life of the Catholic Church, and, arguably, would be causing just as much consternation in some radically traditionalist corners of the internet as the Amazonian Synod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document is the official Catholic response to The Church: Towards a Common Vision<\/em>, a major ecumenical document on the nature and mission of the church, and it indicates Catholic reception of a significant milestone in convergence across separated Christian communities of an increasingly shared theology of the church. It\u2019s a specialist document that really will require more study, evaluation, and reception across the Catholic Church, but in this short piece I\u2019d like to give some background and makes four observations with significance for our further growth in ecumenical unity as well as the kind of renewed ecclesiology that Pope Francis is promoting for the Catholic Church. It might particularly make excellent reading today, in these last days of this year\u2019s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, some necessary background on where this document comes from. While the Catholic Church is not an official member of the World Council of Churches, it has, since just after the Second Vatican Council, participated in the WCC in general and as voting members of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, the major body that studies doctrinal, theological questions that divide the churches and explores ways of resolving church-dividing doctrinal differences. One method for that has been multilateral dialogues, that is, dialogues that attempt to involve all of the Christian communities (as distinct from bilateral dialogues like the Catholic-Lutheran dialogue and the Catholic-Orthodox dialogue).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two landmark accomplishments of the Faith and Order Commission (in my opinion, at least) were the 1982 text Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry<\/em><\/a> (often abbreviated BEM<\/em>, and sometimes called the \u201cLima Document\u201d after the location of the meeting at which it was approved), and, more recently, the 2013 text The Church: Towards a Common Vision<\/em> on ecclesiology. Both were the product of decades \u2013 literally \u2013 of conversation, dialogue, official and unofficial responses by communities, theologians, and other ecumenical groups, and both were put forward as \u201cconvergence texts\u201d \u2013 not expressing the full doctrinal consensus judged necessary for the restoration of visible unity, but demonstrating the width and depth of shared theological agreement between the churches. (And one of the major contributors of the effort that led to BEM<\/em> was the late Canadian theologian and ecumenist, and my PhD subject, Fr. Jean-Marie Tillard, O.P.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both\ncases, official church bodies responded to the final versions of each process\nof dialogue; the responses to BEM<\/em>\nwere edited and published in 6 sizeable volumes! The Catholic Church gave its\nofficial response to BEM<\/em> in 1987,\nafter five years of study by the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity and\nthe Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. While it appreciated the hard\nwork of the drafters and lifted up some of each of its chapters for\nappreciation, it raised numerous critical questions, asked for further\nclarification and dialogue (especially on ecclesiological issues), and was\noverall seen in some circles as a disappointingly lukewarm response to the\nhopes of the Faith and Order Commission. BEM<\/em>\ncontinued to be received in Catholic\ncircles<\/a>, particularly those focused upon ecumenical dialogue, but I\nwouldn\u2019t be surprised if most of those reading this post are hearing about it\nfor the first time right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Church: Towards a Common Vision (<\/em>which I\u2019ll abbreviate TCTCV<\/em> \u2013 it just rolls off the tongue\nafter a while, trust me!) is the end result of a similar, multi-decade process\nof dialogue, study, and discernment. It responded to Catholic and other\ncommunities\u2019 critiques that BEM<\/em> put\nthe cart before the horse by treating sacraments and ministry before the\necclesiological doctrines that undergirded them, and to the growing results of\nbilateral dialogues on ecclesiology. It was preceded by two earlier versions,\n\u201cThe Nature and Purpose of the Church\u201d (1998) and \u201cThe Nature and Mission of\nthe Church\u201d (2005), leading to the final document in 2013. And, as with BEM<\/em>, the Pontifical Council for\nPromoting Christian Unity released a substantive (67 page!) Catholic response\nto TCTCV<\/em>, and while I\u2019d love to know\nwho the primary drafters were, it was released under the authority of the head\nof that office, the Swiss Cardinal Kurt Koch first named as the head of PCPCU\nby then-pope Benedict XVI in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observation One: A Different Tone<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this\nleads to the first of my observations of this draft, particularly in some\ncontrast to the Catholic response to BEM<\/em>:\nthis response is overwhelmingly, refreshingly, warmly positive. Throughout the\ntext the authors raise some questions for further dialogue and clarification,\nand note that their response \u201cmakes no claim to deal with all relevant aspects\nof ecclesiology but rather to build upon some fundamental ecclesiological\nconvergences which have emerged in the churches\u2019 responses to BEM<\/em> and in subsequent ecumenical\ndialogues\u201d \u2013 in other words, they aren\u2019t claiming that TCTCV<\/em> expresses a full Catholic ecclesiology in the way that, say,\nthe Second Vatican Council\u2019s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium<\/em>, would. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless,\nlike the response to BEM<\/em>, it begins\nwith an appreciation, but this response\u2019s appreciation goes on for several\npages. Another introductory section outlines 11 distinct \u201cgeneral aspects in\nharmony with Catholic thought.\u201d (p. 6-8) It suggests that the first chapter\nmight express not only convergence but \u201calmost a \u2018consensus\u2019\u201d \u2013 that is, the\nlevel of \u201csubstantial accord\u201d needed for full, visible unity. (10) It is full\nof expressions of appreciation, such as for how TCTCV<\/em> responds to concerns to BEM<\/em>,\nfor particular expressions of our shared faith in the church, for convergences\nand parallels between TCTCV<\/em> and Roman\nCatholic magisterial teaching \u2013 especially the Lumen Gentium<\/em> from the Second Vatican Council and John Paul II\u2019s\n1995 encyclical Ut Unum Sint<\/em>, \u201cOn\nCommitment to Ecumenism.\u201d To the first of four questions for study the drafters\nof TCTCV<\/em> asked of the churches, this\nresponse states clearly that while \u201cthere are still various theological\nstatements in the text that Catholic teaching would find inadequate, nevertheless\u2026TCTCV<\/em> presents some convergences on the\nmeaning of the Church which reflect, in very substantial ways, the\necclesiological understanding of the Catholic Church.\u201d (52) To the\nnon-specialist, that seems a very qualified, hesitant statement, but in the language\nand conventions of ecumenical theological dialogue in recent years, this is a\ngreat leap forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, I\nfirst scanned through the text with baited breath, waiting to see when a Roman\nshoe might drop, and never found it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observation Two: Hope for a Renewal of Ecumenism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This change\nin tone opens the door to further, wider pathways to Christian unity, in two\nsenses. First, as the document states, the question of \u201cthe nature and mission\nof the Church\u201d \u201cIs perhaps the central ecumenical question.\u201d (3) The reception\nof BEM<\/em> was hindered, in part, because\nhow one understands baptism, Eucharist, and the structures of ministry depends\nin such large part upon how one understands the church. If this text now shared\nby the churches is compatible \u201cin very substantial ways\u201d with the teaching of\nthe Roman Catholic Church, then the possibilities of moving forward in dialogue\non the particular areas of further divergence \u2013 especially around ministry in\ngeneral, primacy in particular, and papal primacy above all \u2013 seem more within\nreach and open to discussion on the foundation of this shared idea of the\nChurch. The response is chock-full of constructive, helpful suggestions for\nfurther study and dialogue between churches, but locates them within the wider\ncontext of TCTCV<\/em> as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition\nto \u201charvesting Scripture, Tradition, and the results of multi- and bilateral\ndialogues on ecclesiological themes\u201d in the past forty years (p. 9), the\nresponse also points forward in hope to how we can better live out our\necumenical commitments \u201con the road\u201d to full visible unity \u2013 a favorite phrase\nof the text. One aspect of this is the embracing of the method of\n\u201cdifferentiating consensus,\u201d most famously used in the Catholic-Lutheran Joint\nDeclaration on the Doctrine of Justification. The response writes that \u201cjust as\nCatholics have achieved a fundamental consensus on the core of the doctrine of\njustification by faith with Lutherans and, subsequently, with other Christian\ncommunities, by identifying what might be called the hierarchy of truths about\njustification by faith, to which diverse explanations of the central truths can\nbe seen as compatible, there is no inherent reason why such an approach could\nnot also be applied to ecclesiological doctrines.\u201d (5) In other words, when it\nstates that \u201cadherence to revealed faith in its entirety does not preclude a\ncertain degree of diversity, even in the expression of that faith\u201d (5), the\nresponse re-opens a wider pathway to consensus than a unequivocal embrace of\nthe formulation of any one church\u2019s ecclesiological doctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, at the\nsame time, recognizing the limits that yet prevent full visible communion and\nthe sharing of Eucharist, this response returns the Catholic Church to a\ncommitment to do together with our fellow Christians all that we can already do\ntogether. For the readers of this blog, the paragraph on growing closer\nliturgically is important: While we cannot yet share Eucharist, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

this does not impede us from inviting members of other churches to the liturgies we celebrate, just as nothing stops us from attending the liturgies of other churches when it is acceptable. The liturgy is an opportunity to learn about each other; as we pray, so we believe (lex orandi, lex credendi<\/em>). As explained earlier…we will renew our commitment to do together whatever we can do together, even in the context of the liturgy. These are some examples: the highly significant gesture of the washing of the feet, signifying service as well as intimacy, following Jesus\u2019 example; the imposition of ashes on the first day of the Lenten season; celebrating together the liturgy of the Word and other symbolic gestures during the vigils of solemnities such as Christmas, Epiphany, the Ascension, Pentecost, and the Martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul; local religious festivities in significant shrines to which Christians from different churches journey as pilgrims. (61)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In a time\nwhen, sadly, \u201cProtestant\u201d gets used as a term of abuse rather than a term for a\nfellow Christian by a few loud but influential voices on social media, this\nrecommitment to the basic commitments to our fellow Christians first outlined\nof Lumen Gentium<\/em>, Unitatis Redintegratio<\/em>, and Ut Unum Sint<\/em> is a needed gift to the\nchurch in our times. And after a time sometimes described as an \u201cecumenical\nwinter,\u201d this feels like the first warm breezes of a returning spring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observation Three: Hope for a Renewal of the Catholic Church<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pope Francis\nhas not written a major encyclical on the nature of the church; instead, his\necclesiological teaching has come through a wide range of homilies, speeches,\nparagraphs in his encyclicals and exhortations, and other forms. But this text\nseems to express some of the major lines of a \u201cFranciscan\u201d ecclesiology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One major\nplace that this happens is in its treatment of synodality. Building upon John\nPaul II\u2019s invitation to other Christian leaders and theologians to imagine new\nforms of exercising papal primacy acceptable to all Christians, this text\nhighlights in a series of paragraphs that TCTCV<\/em>\nchallenges the Catholic Church \u201cto develop its current practice of synodality.\u201d  (57) Its description of synodality, obviously\nin continuity with the International Theological Commission\u2019s recent text on\nsynodality, is worth quoting in full: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Synodality is not solely a style of exercising authority,\nservice and collaboration in the formal structures of the Church but is also an\necclesial attitude which can be adopted by all Christians, whatever their\nresponsibility, even at the grassroots. The Catholic Church commits itself to\nfacilitate this two-way process within its own life. This takes place\ncentripetally, from the local Churches to the centre, as well as centrifugally\nfrom the centre to the peripheries. This ecclesial transformation marks a shift\nin behaviour and in the way of doing things, but, more profoundly, it signals a\nradical change in attitude. Regarding synodality at the grassroots level within\nthe Catholic Church, it will seek to promote a more inclusive attitude in its\nstructures whether this is either absent or weak \u2013 as in diocesan and parish\npastoral councils of consultation and collaboration. (58)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a\ngreat expression of why ecumenism is so valuable \u2013 in addition to following the\nwill of Christ that we would all be one, that the world might believe, our\ndialogue provides ways for the Catholic Church to more easily receive the\npractices and wisdom of synodally experienced churches, even as we might share\nsome of the gifts of structures of primacy. But, in the meantime, we can see\nhere more clearly how and where Pope Francis is leading the Catholic Church\nback to the renewal of synodal structures first renewed in modern Catholicism\nat the Second Vatican Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observation Four: Definitive Reception<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much more\ncould be said about the particulars of this text, and no doubt will be by\necumenists and scholars in the coming years. But the final distinctive aspect\nof this response is its formal act of reception within the Catholic Church as a\nstatement of ecumenical convergence. \u201cReception\u201d is where ecumenical documents\noften go to die \u2013 recall that I needed to begin this essay by explaining BEM<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are\nsome possibilities in this response that open pathways for a more robust\nreception within Catholic life and teaching. The response concludes,\ndefinitively, that \u201cwe receive this document [TCTCV<\/em>] as an instrument of renewal within the Catholic communion.\nIt offers a way for each of us to work with our ecumenical partners as we\nlisten to the voice of each other and together to the voice of the Spirit\nguiding the Church in our own time.\u201d (67) And, earlier, it states, \u201cOur hope is\nthat the further knowledge and reception of this text and its use in\ntheological faculties and in the formation programs of all of our communities,\nnot only involved in the preparation for ordained ministry and other forms of\npastoral service but also in the widest possible scope of the membership of our\ncommunities, will enliven, in the years ahead, the aspiration and commitment of\nall Christians to act in promoting the more complete realization of Christ\u2019s\nprayer that all his followers be one.\u201d (9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we do this \u2013 and this, perhaps, is where you the reader come in \u2013 if we make TCTCV<\/em> an object of study beyond academics and ecumenical specialists; if ecclesiologists explore how ecumenical convergence statements like these have a kind of magisterial authority analogous to that of conciliar, papal, and other forms of ecclesial teaching; if pastors and liturgists renew or return to liturgical practices of doing all thing we can do together, together; if parish book clubs and college courses, seminary formation programs and priest study days, take this text seriously<\/em> \u2013 if we do all this, then we might help better form our Catholic Church for dialogue with our fellow Christians, for renewing our Church, particularly as a synodal community that listens to each other and to the Spirit together, and for the day when a common vision of the church will allow it to be more fully a sign of unity and an instrument of God\u2019s peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Brian Flanagan is associate professor of theology at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, where he teaches systematic theology, ecclesiology, and liturgy and sacraments. His Ph.D. is from Boston College. His most recent book is <\/em>Stumbling in Holiness: Sin and Sanctity in the Church<\/a>, published by Liturgical Press in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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