Roman centralism

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As Roman centralism in Catholic circles since the 11th century. With Pope Gregory VII. Began enforcing the authority of the papacy ( " dictatus papae ", 1075) understood in the church. The Roman papal idea undoubtedly has roots in the Imperium Romanum . However, it claims for itself that as a result it especially questions the claims of the empire and worldly-total state ideas in general. The centuries-old conflict between the popes and the state authorities escalated in the medieval investiture controversy , but seemed to end on the eve of the French Revolution with the victory of absolutism . Even the ecclesiastical powers of the popes in the Catholic monarchies ( Habsburg , France , Spain , Portugal ) had sunk to a minimum, further weakened by the Jesuit ban in 1773.

Due to the increasing concentration of the popes on their claim to spiritual leadership (1870: dogma of infallibility ), however, gradually established a resurgence. Never in its history has the papacy been as universally present as it was during the pontificate of the 20th century, especially under Pope John Paul II.

However, large parts of scientific theology see Roman centralism in everyday church life as an obstacle to ecumenism , pluralism and local social engagement. So have z. In 1989, for example, more than 200 theology professors from German-speaking countries expressed their criticism of the centralistic course of their church with the “Cologne Declaration” . The text speaks of a “progressive incapacitation of the particular churches”. The core of this criticism is that the Pope is trying in an inadmissible way to exceed the magisterial, legal and disciplinary competence of his office. Traditional, also legally enshrined rights of the participation of the bishops are disregarded by the Vatican. This new Roman centralism stifles the opening of the Catholic Church.

The conservative side often responds to criticism with particularly intense expressions of loyalty. From a cultural and historical point of view, centralism has proven to be the only way to ensure that the practice of religion has its spiritual priority over political affairs (" Libertas ecclesiae "). Centralism does not have to mean that every bureaucratic detail should be decided in Rome (although that would be possible in the age of global corporations). The only publicly recognizable difference to other Christian denominations, namely the papacy's claim to spiritual leadership, would be sterile as a purely abstract principle. With the exception of some evangelical free churches , no “church without a pope” within the Christian spectrum has been able to achieve greater resistance to the totalitarian claims of modern states than Catholicism .

When assessing Roman centralism, reform steps must be taken into account that the Second Vatican Council took in the direction of collegiality and decentralization. So it is called z. B. in the church constitution Lumen Gentium with regard to the leadership of the individual particular churches “The bishops lead the particular churches assigned to them as representatives and ambassadors of Christ through advice, encouragement, example, but also with authority and holy power, which they use alone to build up their flock To use truth and holiness. "(Lg 27)

In his apostolic letter Evangelii gaudium published in 2013, Pope Francis regrets that - contrary to the mandate of the Second Vatican Council - there is still no statute for the Bishops' Conferences that understands them "as subjects with specific areas of competence, including a certain authentic teaching authority". And further it says in Evangelii gaudium:

“It is not appropriate for the Pope to replace the local bishops in assessing all the problem areas that arise in their areas. In this sense I feel the need to proceed in a wholesome 'decentralization'. "(Eg 16)

This is what the Pope wants to achieve on the 'path of synodality'. In a speech on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Synod of Bishops by the Second Vatican Council, he said in October 2015: “The world in which we live [...] requires the Church to increase its cooperation in all areas of its mission. Exactly this way of synodality is what God expects from the church of the third millennium. ”...“ I am convinced that in a synodal church the exercise of the Petrine primacy can also be better clarified. The Pope does not stand alone above the Church, but stands in it as a baptized among the baptized [...]. "

The content of these formulations is related to the subsidiarity principle formulated in 1931 in the social encyclical Quadragesimo anno . Then tasks and problems should be undertaken as far as possible by the smallest group or the lowest level of an organizational form. Only if they are unable to do so should the next higher level intervene to provide support. The fact that this principle, which is so important in Catholic social teaching, should also apply to the Church itself has been demanded again and again, but has only been implemented to a limited extent. After all, even Pius XII. described the definition of subsidiarity as “truly luminous words!” which should apply to all levels of social life, and concluded: “They also apply to the life of the Church regardless of its hierarchical structure”. Oswald von Nell-Breuning , who was significantly involved in the creation of Quadragesimo anno, interpreted this in an article on “Subsidiarity in the Church” in such a way that “the principle of subsidiarity is not only compatible with the hierarchical structure of the Church, but belongs to this structure "

literature

  • Franz-Xaver Kaufmann : Roman Centralism: Origin - Success - Dangers , publication Bielefeld University 2002
  • Medard Kehl : On the most recent dispute about the relationship between the universal church and the local church , in: Walter, Peter (ed.), Church in an ecumenical perspective: Cardinal Walter Kasper on his 70th birthday , Freiburg i. Br .; Basel; Vienna 2003, pp. 81–101
  • Andreas R. Batlogg : Synodal Church. In: Voices of the Time, Issue 2, February 2016, pp. 1f
  • Michael Theobald : The Roman Centralism "and the Jerusalem Urgemeinde , in: Theologische Viertelschrift Vol. 180 (2000) pp. 225–228
  • Daniel Eckers : Subsidiarity in the Church. A sketch of the history of theology , in: Wils, Jean-Pierre / Zahner, Michael (ed.), Theological ethics between tradition and modernity. Festschrift for Adrian Holderegger on his sixtieth birthday , Friborg; Freiburg i. Br .; Vienna 2005, pp. 269–295

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Jacquemain: The "Cologne Declaration" was published 25 years ago, in: http://www.katholisch.de/aktuelles/aktuelle-artikel/wider-die-entmundigung
  2. ↑ See also: Gerhard Kruip: Less Centralism in the Church, in: http://www.bistum-essen.de/start/nachrichtenueberblick/ueberblick-detailansicht/artikel/gerhard-kruip-weniger-zentralismus-in-der- church.html
  3. ↑ Apostolic Letter EVANGELII GAUDIUM of the Holy Father Pope Francis, ed. from the Secretariat of the German Bishops' Conference, Bonn 2013, No. 32 (Eg 32)
  4. ↑ Pope Francis, zit.nach: Andreas R.Batlogg: Synod Church. In: Voices of the time, issue 2, February 2016, p. 1f
  5. ↑ Acta Apostolicae Sedis 38 (1946), p. 151, cited above. according to: Michael Böhnke: Theological remarks on the validity of the principle of subsidiarity in the church, in: www.theologie-und-kirche.de/boehnke.pdf
  6. ^ Oswald von Nell-Breuning: Subsidiarity in the Church, in: Voices of the Time, Issue 3, March 1986, pp. 147–157, 157.