Pope Benedict XVI's"Opinion" on Ecumenicism

"Opinion" is not in scare quotes. No, it's in quotes because the Pope himself has said the word. Zenit News Agency highlights his address in Cologne on August 19, 2005 After addressing the common roots of all Christians in the worship of Christ, he makes the following point:

It is the Lord's commandment, but also the imperative of the present hour, to carry on dialogue with conviction at all levels of the Church's life. This must obviously take place with sincerity and realism, with patience and perseverance, in complete fidelity to the dictates of one's conscience in the awareness that it is the Lord who gives unity, that we do not create it, that it is he who gives it but that we must go to meet him.

I do not intend here to outline a program for the immediate themes of dialogue -- this task belongs to theologians working alongside the bishops: the theologians, on the basis of their knowledge of the problem; the bishops from their knowledge of the concrete situation in the Church in our country and in the world.

May I make a small comment: now, it is said that following the clarification regarding the doctrine of justification, the elaboration of ecclesiological issues and the questions concerning ministry are the main obstacles still to be overcome. In short, this is true, but I must also say that I dislike this terminology, which from a certain point of view delimits the problem since it seems that we must now debate about institutions instead of the Word of God, as though we had to place our institutions in the center and fight for them. I think that in this way the ecclesiological issue as well as that of the "Ministerium" are not dealt with correctly.

The real question is the presence of the Word in the world. In the second century the early Church primarily took a threefold decision: first, to establish the canon, thereby stressing the sovereignty of the Word and explaining that not only is the Old Testament "hai graphai," but together with the New Testament constitutes a single Scripture which is thus for us the master text.

However, at the same time the Church has formulated an apostolic succession, the episcopal ministry, in the awareness that the Word and the witness go together; that is, the Word is alive and present only thanks to the witness, so to speak, and receives from the witness its interpretation. But the witness is only such if he or she witnesses to the Word.

Third and last, the Church has added the "regula fidei" as a key for interpretation. I believe that this reciprocal compenetration constitutes an object of dissent between us, even though we are certainly united on fundamental things.

Therefore, when we speak of ecclesiology and of ministry we must preferably speak in this combination of Word, witness and rule of faith, and consider it as an ecclesiological matter, and therefore together as a question of the Word of God, of his sovereignty and humility inasmuch as the Lord entrusts his Word, and concedes its interpretation, to witnesses which, however, must always be compared to the "regula fidei" and the integrity of the Word. Excuse me if I have expressed a personal opinion; it seemed right to do so. (emphasis mine)

First, it's important to note the context of the Pope's comments as well as his own choice of language. He delivers an address to various Christian representatives while visiting the Archbishop of Cologne's residence. He also states that he offers his "personal opinion" regarding ecumenicism. Finally, he declares that he will not outline a program for dialogue while giving this address; he leaves that to "theologians working alongside the bishops." Any Catholic or Protestant Christian that looks to this address for a definitive and authoritative Catholic position on ecumenical dialogue will remain wanting. However, the Pope's "personal opinion", particularly given the theological experience of this pontiff, carries it's own weight when addressing matter of Faith. Therefore, wise Fools would do well to pay attention.

Pope Benedict's diagnosis of the ecumenical "facts on the ground", between the Church and signatories of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (1999) offers an interpretative breakthrough. He's essentially calling for both parties to avoid the trap of jockying for their ecclesial "turf". Instead, he seeks to foster a deeper understanding of the context in which the Church and other Christians live their institutional ecclesiology. That context can be nothing less than the Word of God and our response as Christians. Seen in this light, Catholics and Protestant Christians can see clearly the divisions between us in terms of how each of us relate to the Word of God. We can see how these divisions of relation manifest themselves in our differences of ecclesiology. When we've done this, then we can fruitfully address our differences. A unity that results from this effort is a unity rooted in the truth of who we are as Christians. It therefore lasts.

Those involved in ecumenical dialogue--on both sides of the Tiber--would benefit from keeping this paradigm in mind when they address ecumenical issues. Too often, dialogue has meant, for the Catholic side, a blurring or outright repudiation of the Catholi Church's historical claims of Faith. This breach of integrity can't establish the unity of Christians that offers an unblemished witness to Christ in the world. It's not founded on the truth; it won't last. Pope Benedict XVI, in this address, rightly decries such misguided efforts at "dialogue" (scare quotes for this word intended):

We all know there are numerous models of unity and you know that the Catholic Church also has as her goal the full visible unity of the disciples of Christ, as defined by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council in its various Documents (cf. "Lumen Gentium," Nos. 8, 13; "Unitatis Redintegratio," Nos. 2, 4, etc.). This unity, we are convinced, indeed subsists in the Catholic Church, without the possibility of ever being lost (cf. "Unitatis Redintegratio," No. 4); the Church in fact has not totally disappeared from the world.

On the other hand, this unity does not mean what could be called ecumenism of the return: that is, to deny and to reject one's own faith history. Absolutely not!

Unity is a gift of the Lord, who is Truth and Love. We Christians shattered this unity, and we must work to receive it by making ourselves ready. We prepare best when we accept the truth of where we stand as Christians. Realizing that we have organized our ecclesial identities around the Word of God and our response to it witnesses to this truth. Our dialogue should proceed from this understanding.

Otherwise, we risk builing a new tower of Babel. The world needs a better witness of Christ than that!