The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity published a “study document” that summarizes the responses received from other Christian confessions to the invitation made by John Paul II 30 years ago to rethink together the ministry of the bishop of Rome. Among the hypotheses is also the idea of an “ad extra synodality”, with periodic meetings between those responsible for the different Churches.
Vatican City () – The primacy of Peter is no longer an obstacle but an opportunity for unity among Christians. Starting from this new decline that has already been set in motion in the Church of Rome, through the new impulse to the dimension of synodality and the “new climate” that for years has been breathed in the relations between the leaders of the confessions Christians. This is how the perspective contained in the study document “The Bishop of Rome. Primacy and synodality in ecumenical dialogues and in the responses to the encyclical “Ut unum sint”, approved by Pope Francis, which was presented today in the Vatican by the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity. A long and detailed text that summarizes for the first time the contents of the ecumenical debate opened almost thirty years ago by John Paul II, who in 1995, in the encyclical letter Ut unum sint of 1995, had sponsored that Christians could find together the most adequate so that the ministry of the bishop of Rome “can carry out a service of love recognized by all.”
In recent years, nearly thirty responses have been received from other Christian confessions and fifty ecumenical dialogue documents on this topic, on which Pope Francis invited the Dicastery to continue working. The result is this summary, which collects the fruits of the theological confrontation but also “some practical suggestions” to move towards what is called “a ministry of unity in a reconciled Church.” The document highlights that practically all the texts received agree on the need for a service of unity at a universal level, although there are different opinions about the foundations and ways of living it. “Referring to apostolic tradition, some dialogues maintain that, from the very origins of the Church, Christianity was founded on main apostolic sees that occupied a specific order, of which the see of Rome was the first.”
In this sense, therefore, in the ecumenical world the question of primacy is no longer perceived simply as a problem, but as an opportunity to reflect on the nature of the Church and its mission in the world. In the theological reflection itself, more attention is paid to what Scripture says about Peter’s role among the apostles than to doctrinal evolution and the wounds of history; and this allows “to challenge some traditional confessional interpretations.”
This does not mean, of course, that all obstacles have been overcome: many Christian confessions, for example, ask the Catholic Church for a “reformulation” of the teachings of the First Vatican Council, with its definition of the universal jurisdiction of the Pope and dogma. of infallibility. It is about distinguishing between what was linked to the historical context in which they were proclaimed and what remains current, in light of the ecclesiology of communion subsequently affirmed by the Second Vatican Council and the current cultural and ecumenical context. Just as – especially in the world of Eastern Christians – the condemnation of uniatism remains firm: the Eastern rite Catholic Churches are not, they maintain, the model around which to rethink unity in diversity.
The path indicated for Christian unity in the 21st century instead passes through “a reciprocal interdependence between primacy and synodality at all levels of the Church.” From a theological point of view, the document defines it as “an articulation between ‘all’, ‘some’ and ‘one'”, as three complementary spheres. Evoking “the community dimension, based on the sensus fidei of all the baptized, the collegial dimension, which is expressed above all in episcopal collegiality and the personal dimension that expresses the primal function.” But they are articulations that not only affect the relationship between the successor of Peter and the different ecclesial communities of the world, but are also repositioned as a dynamism at all levels.
For example, ecumenical interlocutors also strongly insist on valuing national and regional Catholic episcopal conferences. In a Church that recognizes the principle of subsidiarity: “No issue that can be adequately addressed at a lower level should be raised at a higher level.” In this sense, some voices insist that “the power of the bishop of Rome should not exceed that necessary for the exercise of his ministry of unity at a universal level”, while recognizing the need for “a sufficient degree of authority to address the many challenges and complex obligations associated with his ministry.
Finally, a growth in ad extra synodality is also encouraged, with periodic opportunities for meetings between the leaders of the Christian confessions. In recent decades, much has been done in this regard, including with the initiatives and apostolic trips that Pope Francis has promoted together with the patriarchs of the East and Anglican and Protestant leaders. But the document also hypothesizes the idea of ”periodic consultations” to “make visible and deepen the communion they already share.”
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