Church and Church Fellowship (Second Report)

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The document Church and Church Fellowship (Second Report) is a joint document on the fundamentals of the understanding of the Church by the Roman Catholic and Old Catholic Churches . On behalf of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Union of Old Catholic Churches in Utrecht and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity , it was drafted by theologians of both churches in the (second) International Roman Catholic Old Catholic Dialogue Commission (IRAD II), which met from 2012 to 2016 . The report shows a bilateral aspect of the modern ecumenical movement . He was released 2017. The dialogue paper church and church fellowship (Second Report) is in the tradition of the already growing Documents correspondence (Volume 4, 2012) previous document published church and church fellowship .

background

(First) International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission (IRAD I)

In 2000, on the occasion of an ecumenical ceremony between the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht Antonius Jan Glazemaker and the Pontifical Unity Council Edward Cardinal Cassidy , an international and bilateral commission to deepen the dialogue between the churches was discussed. This (first) International Roman Catholic Old Catholic Dialogue Commission (IRAD) began its work in 2004. The Old Catholic (Christian Catholic) Bishop of Switzerland Fritz-René Müller and the Roman Catholic emeritus Bishop of Würzburg Paul-Werner Scheele acted as co-presidents . In eleven meetings between 2004 and 2009, the IRAD I developed the document Church and Church Fellowship. This first report was subsequently published in Volume 4 of Documents of Growing Consistency. The international commission met again from 2012 in its second term of office on the issues that had not yet been clarified in this report.

(Second) International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission (IRAD II)

On the Roman Catholic side, Kurt Cardinal Koch was appointed to IRAD II by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity from 2012 to 2016 : Archbishop of Paderborn Hans-Josef Becker (Co-President), Prelate Hubert Bour (Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart ), Professor em. Dr. Hans Jörg Urban (Paderborn), Professor em. Dr. Heinrich JF Reinhardt (Münster) and Msgr. Matthias Türk (Vatican).

On the Old Catholic side were appointed by the Union of Utrecht: Bishop Matthias Ring (Co-President), Professor em. Dr. Urs von Arx (Bern), Professor em. Dr. Günter Esser (Bonn), lecturer Wietse Berend van der Velde (The Hague), Professor Dr. Angela Berlis (Bern), Vicar General Martin Eisenbraun (Salzburg). The work of the IRAD II dialogue commission ended with the presentation of the document Church and Church Fellowship (second report) .

Structure and content

The second report of the dialogue commission was presented in 2016. The second report was published in an anthology in which the first report published in 2010 was reprinted. The document Church and Church Fellowship (Second Report) or in the long title: Church and Church Fellowship - Supplements. The second report of the International Roman Catholic Old Catholic Dialogue Commission (2016) comprises three chapters. The paragraphs are numbered from 1 to 94 across all chapters.

Preface

In the preface to the second report, the commission deals with the subjects submitted for discussion and also cites the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Kurt Cardinal Koch wrote to the Old Catholic Archbishop Vercammen in September 2011:

“(1) In the report of the commission, the universal ecclesiastical dimension in particular is to be dealt with even more closely and deepened (...) Also the old church consensus: no Eucharistic fellowship without church fellowship deserves further attention, especially in connection with the 1985 agreement between the old -Katholischen Church and the Evangelical Church (...) In addition, the question of women's ordination and the Marian dogmas to be taken on. "

The second dialogue commission was set up in December 2012 in Paderborn to discuss these issues. The commission held nine two-day meetings between 2012 and 2016.

The open questions about ecclesiology

On the relationship between the local church and the universal church

In the first chapter, the “differentiated consensus” method used in the Commission is briefly discussed again. However, the commission also notes that despite the agreements reached in the 1st mandate period or IRAD I in the basic content of a previously controversial doctrine - this refers to aspects of ecclesiology - questions about the primacy of the Pope and the collegiality of the bishops still remain open stayed. These open questions should now be discussed in the 2nd mandate period or IRAD II.

The commission then deals with the different meanings of the terms local church and universal church in the legal systems of the two dialogue partners. The role of the bishop as the personal focus of the local Church, the First Bishop (Primate) as head of the bishops of a particular region and the Bishop of Rome as the First Bishop of the community of local churches are also discussed.

Binding teaching and infallibility

In the second subchapter of the first chapter, the commission deals with the aspects of a possible church fellowship between the Old Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church. For this purpose, the key data of a “Communio-Ecclesiology” from the first report in 2009 are repeated. The correspondence suggests that the doctrines of papal primacy and papal infallibility published at Vatican I , if the Pope were embedded in a communion structure, no longer have the weight of a church-dividing difference as before (Article 39 in the 2009 report as well as Article 24 in the 2016 report). The IRAD II again agrees with this finding (Article 24 in the 2016 report).

In principle, the Old Catholic Church has always recognized the primacy of the Pope. What was rejected is the legal form according to the Constitution Pastor Aeternus of Vatican I and according to the Constitution Lumen Gentium (No. 3) of Vatican II. This also rejects the current legal codification of this primacy in the Codex Iuris Canonici CIC 1983 and in the Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium CCEO 1990 (Article 27 in the 2009 report). With reference to the (magisterial) declaration of the Old Catholic Bishops on July 18, 1970 “The primacy in the Church” , it is noted that a historical primacy as primus inter pares (the first among equals), as it is from the Old Catholic point of view in the undivided Church of the 1st millennium can certainly be assumed. It is also recognized that Peter, according to Luk. 22:32 and Joh. 21:17 were particularly emphatically entrusted by Christ with the all-encompassing pastoral task.

The Old Catholic side also states that, in their opinion, theology not only serves the purpose of correct doctrine, but also a critical role in the church. It is also stated that in theological conflicts with regard to teaching, the fundamental freedom of research and freedom of expression should be observed. The commission sees the tension between these statements with regard to the primacy defined in Pastor aeternus and other documents, but at this point in time it cannot offer any concrete proposals for a solution (Article 36 in the 2016 report).

The open questions about the dogmas of Mary from 1854 and 1950

The old Catholic starting point

At the beginning of the second chapter, the commission points out that a possible church fellowship between Roman Catholic and Old Catholic Christians must require a consensus in the theological understanding of Our Lady, especially with regard to the different views of the two Marian dogmas. Of course, church fellowship is impossible if one side rejects a doctrine of the other side that is represented with the highest authority and as dogma (Article 42 in the 2016 report).

In the further course of the chapter, the commission looks back on the Utrecht Declaration of 1889. In this declaration, published in 1889, the Old Catholic Bishops' Conference referred to the dogmatization of the Immaculate Conception of Mary made in 1854 and this dogma - from the Old Catholic point of view, as not justified in the Holy Scriptures and in the tradition of the first millennia - officially rejected. The International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference responded to the 1950 defined dogma of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven with a doctrinal declaration in December 1950, which again rejects this dogma as well as the previous one (Articles 44 and 45 in the 2016 report). Nevertheless, the IRAD II sees a space for the rejection of these two dogmas to be reconsidered in the context of the ecumenical dialogue (Article 48).

On the subject, the Dialogue Commission refers to the Orthodox-Old Catholic consensus paper, The Mother of God , published in 1977 by the then Orthodox-Old Catholic Discussion Commission. This document, which is also printed in documents of increasing consensus, proclaims that the Old Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church do not know the new dogmas of an immaculate conception and a bodily acceptance of the Blessed Mother into heaven. The Church celebrates the entrance of the Blessed Mother into eternal life and celebrates the day of her passing as a holiday. At the 40th International Old Catholic Theological Conference in 2008, she dealt with the position of Mary in God's work of salvation and with the question of an Old Catholic Marian piety. Here the conference of theologians notices a certain turning point in the Old Catholic attitude and locates a greater openness on this topic, which has taken the place of a certain Old Catholic reluctance as a reaction to the ultramontane forms of piety of the 19th century (Article 48 in the 2016 report).

The IRAD II commission takes up these impulses, however, to what extent a greater Old Catholic Marian piety can be liturgically consolidated, remains to be seen. At the end of the subchapter, the commission writes again in its report that in the context of bilateral ecumenical dialogues it does not appear to be ruled out that in the case of new binding Roman Catholic interpretations of the two dogmas - also with regard to the different "weighting of truth" (hierarchia veritatum) - the Old Catholic rejection of dogmas can possibly also be reconsidered.

The Roman Catholic starting point

With regard to the Roman Catholic position on the dogma of 1854, the report of the commission discusses that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary does not contradict the teaching of Scripture and that this dogma can only be understood in the light of Scripture. With the dogma of 1950 about the admission of Mary body and soul into heaven - that is, in the absolute completeness of her person - it is also true that this teaching can only be understood in the light of Scripture. In this sense, some church fathers also testify to the exaltation of Mary into heaven, the commission continues (Article 50).

Reflections on Differentiated Consensus

For a rapprochement in ecumenism in the sense of a differentiated consensus, the readiness for a benevolent interpretation of the position of the other church is necessary. The commission sees a tension between the dogma claimed with the highest authority, which from the Roman Catholic point of view is infallible on the one hand and the (Old Catholic) positioning of the teaching content in the hierarchia veritatum, where it does not have a central place, on the other. Because the opinion of high authority and rather low theological weight collide here, this represents a particular difficulty and challenge on the way to a church fellowship. At the moment, the commission cannot yet offer a sustainable solution, it refers to the synodal process for the further course and the faith of the believers.

Specific Old Catholic explanations

On the question of the ordination of women to priestly service

At the beginning of the third chapter, the commission shows again the historical course and the theological and canonical struggle within the Old Catholic Churches, which led to the integration of women into the tripartite office of bishop , priesthood and deacon (Article 65). The declaration of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference of 1976 rejected the ordination of women on the grounds that the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ, only called men into office. This declaration of the International Old Catholic Bishops 'Conference: On the question of the ordination of women , the Bishops' Conference on December 7th, 1976 adopted with a vote against. However, since the declaration did not achieve the unanimity required for magisterial documents, the discussion on this topic continued in the member churches of the Union of Utrecht.

In 1982 the Bishops' Conference made an initial correction due to reactions within the Church. With this - again not unanimous - decision of 1982 the way was opened for the establishment of a permanent diaconate (in the report also: permanent diaconate) for women and for the revision of the liturgical ordination forms. In retrospect, this marked the beginning of the tendencies to split in the Union of Utrecht. This inner Old Catholic schism arose in particular from the fact that the Polish National Catholic Church of America (PNCC), in contrast to the other Old Catholic churches, did not see a sacramental diaconate, but “only” a non-sacramental ecclesiastical mandate.

The actual ordination of women into the Old Catholic Diaconate took place in 1987 in the Christian Catholic Church in Switzerland , in 1988 in the Old Catholic Church in Germany , in 1991 in the Old Catholic Church in Austria and in 1996 in the Old Catholic Church in the Netherlands . As a result of these events in the Old Catholic Churches and the developments in the sister churches of the Anglican Communion , an additional ordination of women to the priesthood finally moved into the focus of deliberations in the regional synods of the churches. The International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference in 1991 therefore also dealt with the topic of ordination of women (Christianity) for the entire tripartite office, i.e. for deacon, priest and bishop. The conference made no breakthrough in one direction or the other. In 1996 the Old Catholic Church in Germany consecrated two deacons to priestly office - more or less single-handedly. On this event, the PNCC ruled by abolishing the church fellowship. The 1997 conference of bishops was again unable to reach a joint decision of principle. Further ordination of women to the priesthood took place after the decision of the synods in 1997 in Austria, in 1999 in the Netherlands and in Switzerland in 2000. Because the PNCC also terminated fellowship with these churches, their departure from the Union of Utrecht in 2003 was practically the final step in the Separation from the Union of Utrecht.

Of the other churches in the Union of Utrecht, the Old Catholic Church in Poland and the Old Catholic Church in Croatia do not generally have any ordained women in their service. In the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic there are deaconesses, but no priestesses. The fact that these churches remain in the Union of Utrecht - as stated by the Dialogue Commission in Article 73 of its 2016 report - has in fact shown that the issue of women's ordination, which requires mutual consideration for each situation, does not have to have a weight that divides the churches (Article 72).

In the further course of the text, the dialogue commission takes on the sponsorship or nuptial metaphor. This is about the complex of issues that, according to the Roman Catholic view, the celebrant of the Eucharist must be a man because the priest represents Jesus Christ. Articles 75 to 80 of the report in particular address this issue.

For the inner togetherness of the Eucharist and church fellowship

In this sub-chapter, the commission deals with the subject of the communion of the Eucharist and the forms of Eucharistic hospitality. The report discusses the so-called Bonn Agreement of 1931 on intercommunion between Anglicans and Old Catholics (Article 83). This was followed in 1965 by analogous agreements with the Philippine Independent Church, the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church and the Lusitan Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church in Portugal. Mutual admission to the Lord's Supper came in 1984 between the Old Catholics and Protestants in the former CSSR (now the Czech Republic) and in 1985 between the Old Catholic Church of Austria and the Evangelical Church AB in Austria .

The so-called agreement dating from 1985 on a mutual invitation to participate in the celebration of the Eucharist between the Evangelical Church in Germany and the Catholic Diocese of Old Catholics in Germany has a different weight for the Dialogue Commission . This agreement, signed in Hanover on March 29, 1985, explicitly speaks of a number of fundamental similarities in creed, doctrine and practice, and that therefore the Evangelical Church in Germany and the Old Catholic Church in Germany are allowed to participate mutually to invite to the Eucharist. In Article 90 of the report, the dialogue commission continues to talk about the inner-Old Catholic repercussions of this agreement, also known as the EKD-AKD agreement. The International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference (IBK) was only informed about this afterwards. There is also the question of a violation of the Utrecht Declaration of 1889 by this agreement. In 1988 the Bishops' Conference decided not to “approve” the EKD-AKD agreement, on the other hand the German Church has repeatedly reaffirmed this agreement, invoking the old Catholic principle of the autonomy of the local church.

In the 94th and last article of the second report from 2016, the (second) International Roman-Catholic-Old Catholic Dialogue Commission points out that the connection between the Eucharist and church fellowship cannot yet be resolved and must be discussed further. In detail, the report closes with the words:

“(94) For various reasons (...) there is little prospect that anything can be changed at the moment in this inner Old Catholic problem of the inner connection between the Eucharist and church fellowship, which has lasted for over 30 years; But it is perceived and discussed further in Old Catholic theology. That can only be noted in the dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Utrecht Union of Old Catholic Churches. "

Epilogue to the entire text and outlook

In the epilogue of its report, the Dialogue Commission says that the clearly most important and fundamental event is a common, deepened communion-ecclesiology, according to which the church is understood as a community of local churches in which the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church exists.

Regarding the open questions about the dogmas of Mary, according to the opinion and at the suggestion of the IRAD II, the Church-dividing Old Catholic rejection of the dogmatization of the Immaculate Conception of Mary from 1854 and the Assumption of Mary into heaven from 1954 could be omitted if the content of the doctrine of the act of having a Anathemic dogmatization is solved. In this case there would no longer be any church-dividing dissent in Mariology.

On the question of the ordination of women in the priestly service, the known positions were discussed and the practice of the churches in this regard was presented in detail. The commission notes that the deliberations did not reveal any new approaches to overcoming the Roman Catholic-Old Catholic differences.

The question of the inner connection between the subject of the Eucharist and church fellowship is in and of itself not a point of contention between Roman Catholic and Old Catholic Christians; both sides affirm the connection. The topic is rather an inner Old Catholic problem, since in some Old Catholic churches there are forms of divine services with ecumenical participation that are more or less noticeably in tension with the decisions of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference and with the unity of the Eucharist and church fellowship.

Under the last heading, Remaining Open Questions , the Dialogue Commission notes that there is a lot going on in the churches today, especially on ethical issues. Reference is made here in particular to the forms of human partnership and the related questions of sacramental theology. Reference is also made to the address by Pope Francis to the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference, which took place during the visit of the Old Catholic Bishops in Vatican City on October 30, 2014. In his address, he said of the different ethical approaches between the dialogue partners:

“Just as we rejoice every time we take steps towards a greater community of life and faith, so we are saddened when we recognize new differences that have emerged between us over the years. The (...) questions that accompanied our separation are now more difficult to overcome because of our growing distance on the issues of office and ethical judgment. "

The International Roman-Catholic-Old Catholic Dialogue Commission IRAD II concludes its ecumenical report by stating that both an active reception of what has been achieved and the constant will to work on what is still to come, but also new, is now required.

reception

The document Church and Church Fellowship (Second Report) published in 2017 by the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission was unable to build on the broad impact of the first report on Church and Church Fellowship published in 2009 . In the communiqué of the Old Catholic Bishops' Conference for 2018, the bishops stated that within the Roman Catholic Church this second report was forwarded to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ( Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) for assessment. The Old Catholic Bishops' Conference will also examine the results of IRAD II in detail.

On the Old Catholic side, only the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference and the clergy's conference of the Old Catholic Church in Austria had dealt more intensively with the second report until 2019. At this point in time there was still no major feedback from the other Old Catholic churches. On the Roman Catholic side, the second report was a topic of lectures held in 2018 at the Ecumenical Institute of the Theological Faculty of the University of Lucerne and in 2019 as part of the spring conference of ecumenical speakers of the German Roman Catholic dioceses.

expenditure

  • Church and fellowship. First and Second Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission 2009 and 2016 . Bonifatius, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-89710-746-5 .

literature

  • Urs Küry: The Old Catholic Church. Their history, their teaching, their concerns . 3. Edition. Evangelisches Verlagswerk, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-7715-0190-3 .
  • Wolfgang Thönissen (Hrsg.): Lexicon of ecumenism and denominational studies. On behalf of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2007, ISBN 978-3-451-29500-3 .
  • Wolfgang H. Müller (Ed.): Church and Church Fellowship. The catholicity of the Old Catholics (Christ Catholics). Studies Ecumenical Institute Lucerne 10 . Theological Publishing House Zurich, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-290-20089-3 .
  • Church and fellowship. Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission . Bonifatius, Lembeck, Paderborn, Frankfurt / Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-89710-456-3 .
  • Johannes Oeldemann, Friederike Nüssel, Uwe Swarat, Athanasios Vletsis (eds.): Documents of growing agreement. All reports and consensus texts of interdenominational discussions at world level. Volume 4 . Bonifatius, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Paderborn, Leipzig 2012, ISBN 978-3-89710-492-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Church and church fellowship. Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission . Bonifatius, Lembeck, Paderborn, Frankfurt / Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-89710-456-3 , p. 50-51 .
  2. ^ Church and church fellowship. First and Second Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission 2009 and 2016 . Bonifatius, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-89710-746-5 , p. 54 .
  3. ^ Church and church fellowship. First and Second Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission 2009 and 2016 . Bonifatius, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-89710-746-5 , p. 160 .
  4. ↑ a b c Church and Church Fellowship. First and Second Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission 2009 and 2016 . Bonifatius, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-89710-746-5 , p. 95-96 .
  5. ↑ a b Church and Church Fellowship. First and Second Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission 2009 and 2016 . Bonifatius, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-89710-746-5 , p. 34, 98-100 .
  6. ↑ a b Church and Church Fellowship. Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission . Bonifatius, Lembeck, Paderborn, Frankfurt / Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-89710-456-3 , p. 50-51 .
  7. ^ Church and church fellowship. First and Second Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission 2009 and 2016 . Bonifatius, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-89710-746-5 , p. 109 .
  8. ↑ Urs Küry : The Old Catholic Church. Their history, their teaching, their concerns . 3. Edition. Evangelisches Verlagswerk, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-7715-0190-3 , p. 458-459 .
  9. ^ Peter Neuner : Old Catholic Church . In: Wolfgang Thönissen (Hrsg.): Lexicon of ecumenism and denominational studies . On behalf of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism. With a foreword by Cardinal Walter Kasper. Herder publishing house . Freiburg in Breisgau. 2007. ISBN 978-3-451-29500-3 . Pp. 31-34.
  10. ^ Church and church fellowship. First and Second Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission 2009 and 2016 . Bonifatius, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-89710-746-5 , p. 117 .
  11. ↑ a b c d e Church and Church Fellowship. First and Second Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission 2009 and 2016 . Bonifatius, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-89710-746-5 , p. 119-132 .
  12. ↑ a b c d e Church and Church Fellowship. First and Second Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission 2009 and 2016 . Bonifatius, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-89710-746-5 , p. 132-41 .
  13. ↑ Urs Küry : The Old Catholic Church. Their history, their teaching, their concerns . 3. Edition. Evangelisches Verlagswerk, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-7715-0190-3 , p. 460-461 .
  14. ↑ a b c Church and Church Fellowship. First and Second Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission 2009 and 2016 . Bonifatius, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-89710-746-5 , p. 132-152 .
  15. ↑ a b c d e f Church and church fellowship. First and Second Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission 2009 and 2016 . Bonifatius, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-89710-746-5 , p. 153-160 .
  16. ↑ a b Address by Pope Francis to the delegation of the Old Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Union of Utrecht. Holy See Press Office, October 30, 2014, accessed February 1, 2015 .
  17. ^ Communique of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference 2018. Union of Old Catholic Churches in Utrecht, September 30, 2018, accessed on August 1, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Primacy and synodality are mutually dependent. Also an obituary for Bishop em. Paul-Werner Scheele as IRAD Co-President. Christian Catholic Church in Switzerland, May 30, 2019, accessed on August 1, 2019 .