JOINT
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE
BETWEEN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
ECCLESIOLOGICAL
AND CANONICAL CONSEQUENCES
OF THE SACRAMENTAL NATURE OF THE CHURCH
ECCLESIAL
COMMUNION, CONCILIARITY AND AUTHORITY
Ravenna, 13
October 2007
Introduction
1. “That they may all be one. As you, Father, are
in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us so that the world may
believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17, 21). We give thanks to the triune God
who has gathered us – members of the Joint International Commission for the
Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox
Church - so that we might respond together in obedience to this prayer of
Jesus. We are conscious that our dialogue is restarting in a world that has
changed profoundly in recent times. The processes of secularization and
globalization, and the challenge posed by new encounters between Christians
and believers of other religions, require that the disciples of Christ give
witness to their faith, love and hope with a new urgency. May the Spirit of
the risen Lord empower our hearts and minds to bear the fruits of unity in
the relationship between our Churches, so that together we may serve the
unity and peace of the whole human family. May the same Spirit lead us to the
full expression of the mystery of ecclesial communion, that we gratefully
acknowledge as a wonderful gift of God to the world, a mystery whose beauty
radiates especially in the holiness of the saints, to which all are called.
2. Following the plan adopted at its first
meeting in Rhodes in 1980, the Joint Commission began by addressing the
mystery of ecclesial koinônia in the light of the mystery of the Holy
Trinity and of the Eucharist. This enabled a deeper understanding of
ecclesial communion, both at the level of the local community around its
bishop, and at the level of relations between bishops and between the local
Churches over which each presides in communion with the One Church of God
extending across the universe (cfr. Munich Document, 1982). In order to
clarify the nature of communion, the Joint Commission underlined the
relationship which exists between faith, the sacraments – especially the
three sacraments of Christian initiation – and the unity of the Church (cfr.
Bari Document, 1987). Then by studying the sacrament of Order in the
sacramental structure of the Church, the Commission indicated clearly
the role of apostolic succession as the guarantee of the koinonia of
the whole Church and of its continuity with the Apostles in every time and
place (cfr. Valamo Document, 1988). From 1990 until 2000, the main subject
discussed by the Commission was that of “uniatism” (Balamand Document, 1993;
Baltimore, 2000), a subject to which we shall give further consideration in
the near future. Now we take up the theme raised at the end of the Valamo
Document, and reflect upon ecclesial communion, conciliarity and authority.
3. On the basis of these common affirmations of
our faith, we must now draw the ecclesiological and canonical consequences
which flow from the sacramental nature of the Church. Since the Eucharist, in
the light of the Trinitarian mystery, constitutes the criterion of ecclesial
life as a whole, how do institutional structures visibly reflect the mystery
of this koinonia? Since the one and holy Church is realised both in
each local Church celebrating the Eucharist and at the same time in the koinonia
of all the Churches, how does the life of the Churches manifest this
sacramental structure?
4. Unity and multiplicity, the relationship
between the one Church and the many local Churches, that constitutive
relationship of the Church, also poses the question of the relationship
between the authority inherent in every ecclesial institution and the
conciliarity which flows from the mystery of the Church as communion. As the
terms “authority” and “conciliarity” cover a very wide area, we shall begin
by defining the way we understand them.[1]
I.
The Foundations of Conciliarity and of Authority
1. Conciliarity
5. The term conciliarity or synodality comes from
the word “council” (synodos in Greek, concilium in Latin),
which primarily denotes a gathering of bishops exercising a particular
responsibility. It is also possible, however, to take the term in a more
comprehensive sense referring to all the members of the Church (cfr. the
Russian term sobornost). Accordingly we shall speak first of all of
conciliarity as signifying that each member of the Body of Christ, by virtue
of baptism, has his or her place and proper responsibility in eucharistic koinonia
(communio in Latin). Conciliarity reflects the Trinitarian mystery and
finds therein its ultimate foundation. The three persons of the Holy Trinity
are “enumerated”, as St Basil the Great says (On the Holy Spirit, 45),
without the designation as “second” or “third” person implying any diminution
or subordination. Similarly, there also exists an order (taxis) among
local Churches, which however does not imply inequality in their ecclesial
nature.
6. The Eucharist manifests the Trinitarian koinônia
actualized in the faithful as an organic unity of several members each of
whom has a charism, a service or a proper ministry, necessary in their
variety and diversity for the edification of all in the one ecclesial Body of
Christ (cfr. 1 Cor 12, 4-30). All are called, engaged and held accountable –
each in a different though no less real manner – in the common accomplishment
of the actions which, through the Holy Spirit, make present in the Church the
ministry of Christ, “the way, the truth and the life” (Jn 14, 6). In this
way, the mystery of salvific koinonia with the Blessed Trinity is
realized in humankind.
7. The whole community and each person in it
bears the “conscience of the Church” (ekklesiastike syneidesis), as
Greek theology calls it, the sensus fidelium in Latin terminology. By
virtue of Baptism and Confirmation (Chrismation) each member of the Church
exercises a form of authority in the Body of Christ. In this sense, all the
faithful (and not just the bishops) are responsible for the faith professed
at their Baptism. It is our common teaching that the people of God, having
received “the anointing which comes from the Holy One” (1 Jn 2, 20 and 27),
in communion with their pastors, cannot err in matters of faith (cfr. Jn 16,
13).
8. In proclaiming the Church’s faith and in clarifying
the norms of Christian conduct, the bishops have a specific task by divine
institution. “As successors of the Apostles, the bishops are responsible for
communion in the apostolic faith and for fidelity to the demands of a life in
keeping with the Gospel” (Valamo Document, n. 40).
9. Councils are the principal way in which
communion among bishops is exercised (cfr. Valamo Document, n. 52). For
“attachment to the apostolic communion binds all the bishops together linking
the episkope of the local Churches to the College of the Apostles.
They too form a college rooted by the Spirit in the ‘once for all’ of the
apostolic group, the unique witness to the faith. This means not only that
they should be united among themselves in faith, charity, mission,
reconciliation, but that they have in common the same responsibility and the
same service to the Church” (Munich Document, III, 4).
10. This conciliar dimension of the Church’s life
belongs to its deep-seated nature. That is to say, it is founded in the will
of Christ for his people (cfr. Mt 18, 15-20), even if its canonical
realizations are of necessity also determined by history and by the social,
political and cultural context. Defined thus, the conciliar dimension of the
Church is to be found at the three levels of ecclesial communion, the local,
the regional and the universal: at the local level of the diocese entrusted
to the bishop; at the regional level of a group of local Churches with their
bishops who “recognize who is the first amongst themselves” (Apostolic Canon
34); and at the universal level, where those who are first (protoi) in
the various regions, together with all the bishops, cooperate in that which
concerns the totality of the Church. At this level also, the protoi
must recognize who is the first amongst themselves.
11. The Church exists in many and different
places, which manifests its catholicity. Being “catholic”, it is a living
organism, the Body of Christ. Each local Church, when in communion with the
other local Churches, is a manifestation of the one and indivisible Church of
God. To be “catholic” therefore means to be in communion with the one Church
of all times and of all places. That is why the breaking of eucharistic
communion means the wounding of one of the essential characteristics of the
Church, its catholicity.
2. Authority
12. When we speak of authority, we are referring
to exousia, as it is described in the New Testament. The authority of
the Church comes from its Lord and Head, Jesus Christ. Having received his
authority from God the Father, Christ after his Resurrection shared it,
through the Holy Spirit, with the Apostles (cfr. Jn 20, 22). Through the
Apostles it was transmitted to the bishops, their successors, and through
them to the whole Church. Jesus Christ our Lord exercised this authority in
various ways whereby, until its eschatological fulfilment (cfr. 1 Cor 15,
24-28), the Kingdom of God manifests itself to the world: by teaching (cfr.
Mt 5, 2; Lk 5, 3); by performing miracles (cfr. Mk 1, 30-34; Mt 14, 35-36);
by driving out impure spirits (cfr. Mk 1, 27; Lk 4, 35-36); in the
forgiveness of sins (cfr. Mk 2, 10; Lk 5, 24); and in leading his disciples
in the ways of salvation (cfr. Mt 16, 24). In conformity with the mandate
received from Christ (cfr. Mt 28, 18-20), the exercise of the authority
proper to the apostles and afterwards to the bishops includes the
proclamation and the teaching of the Gospel, sanctification through the sacraments,
particularly the Eucharist, and the pastoral direction of those who believe
(cfr. Lk 10, 16).
13. Authority in the Church belongs to Jesus
Christ himself, the one Head of the Church (cfr. Eph 1, 22; 5, 23). By his
Holy Spirit, the Church as his Body shares in his authority (cfr. Jn 20,
22-23). Authority in the Church has as its goal the gathering of the whole of
humankind into Jesus Christ (cfr. Eph 1,10; Jn 11, 52). The authority linked
with the grace received in ordination is not the private possession of those
who receive it nor something delegated from the community; rather, it is a
gift of the Holy Spirit destined for the service (diakonia) of the
community and never exercised outside of it. Its exercise includes the
participation of the whole community, the bishop being in the Church and the
Church in the bishop (cfr. St Cyprian, Ep. 66, 8).
14. The exercise of authority accomplished in the
Church, in the name of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, must be,
in all its forms and at all levels, a service (diakonia) of love, as
was that of Christ (cfr. Mk 10, 45; Jn 13, 1-16). The authority of which we
are speaking, since it expresses divine authority, cannot subsist in the
Church except in the love between the one who exercises it and those subject
to it. It is, therefore, an authority without domination, without physical or
moral coercion. Since it is a participation in the exousia of the
crucified and exalted Lord, to whom has been given all authority in heaven
and on earth (cfr. Mt 28, 18), it can and must call for obedience. At the
same time, because of the Incarnation and the Cross, it is radically
different from that of leaders of nations and of the great of this world
(cfr. Lk 22, 25-27). While this authority is certainly entrusted to people
who, because of weakness and sin, are often tempted to abuse it, nevertheless
by its very nature the evangelical identification between authority and
service constitutes a fundamental norm for the Church. For Christians, to
rule is to serve. The exercise and spiritual efficacy of ecclesial authority
are thereby assured through free consent and voluntary co-operation. At a
personal level, this translates into obedience to the authority of the Church
in order to follow Christ who was lovingly obedient to the Father even unto
death and death on a Cross (cfr. Phil 2, 8).
15. Authority within the Church is founded upon
the Word of God, present and alive in the community of the disciples.
Scripture is the revealed Word of God, as the Church, through the Holy Spirit
present and active within it, has discerned it in the living Tradition
received from the Apostles. At the heart of this Tradition is the Eucharist
(cfr. 1 Cor 10, 16-17; 11, 23-26). The authority of Scripture derives from
the fact that it is the Word of God which, read in the Church and by the
Church, transmits the Gospel of salvation. Through Scripture, Christ
addresses the assembled community and the heart of each believer. The Church,
through the Holy Spirit present within it, authentically interprets
Scripture, responding to the needs of times and places. The constant custom
of the Councils to enthrone the Gospels in the midst of the assembly both
attests the presence of Christ in his Word, which is the necessary point of
reference for all their discussions and decisions, and at the same time
affirms the authority of the Church to interpret this Word of God.
16. In his divine Economy, God wills that his Church
should have a structure oriented towards salvation. To this essential
structure belong the faith professed and the sacraments celebrated in the
apostolic succession. Authority in the ecclesial communion is linked to this
essential structure: its exercise is regulated by the canons and statutes of
the Church. Some of these regulations may be differently applied according to
the needs of ecclesial communion in different times and places, provided that
the essential structure of the Church is always respected. Thus, just as
communion in the sacraments presupposes communion in the same faith (cfr.
Bari Document, nn.29-33), so too, in order for there to be full ecclesial
communion, there must be, between our Churches, reciprocal recognition of
canonical legislations in their legitimate diversities.
II.
The threefold actualization of Conciliarity and Authority
17. Having pointed out the foundation of
conciliarity and of authority in the Church, and having noted the complexity
of the content of these terms, we must now reply to the following questions:
How do institutional elements of the Church visibly express and serve the
mystery of koinonia? How do the canonical structures of the Churches
express their sacramental life? To this end we distinguished between three
levels of ecclesial institutions: that of the local Church around its bishop;
that of a region taking in several neighbouring local Churches; and that of
the whole inhabited earth (oikoumene) which embraces all the local
Churches.
1. The Local
Level
18. The Church of God exists where there is a
community gathered together in the Eucharist, presided over, directly or
through his presbyters, by a bishop legitimately ordained into the apostolic
succession, teaching the faith received from the Apostles, in communion with
the other bishops and their Churches. The fruit of this Eucharist and this
ministry is to gather into an authentic communion of faith, prayer, mission,
fraternal love and mutual aid, all those who have received the Spirit of
Christ in Baptism. This communion is the frame in which all ecclesial
authority is exercised. Communion is the criterion for its exercise.
19. Each local Church has as its mission to be,
by the grace of God, a place where God is served and honoured, where the
Gospel is announced, where the sacraments are celebrated, where the faithful
strive to alleviate the world’s misery, and where each believer can find
salvation. It is the light of the world (cfr. Mt 5, 14-16), the leaven (cfr.
Mt 13, 33), the priestly community of God (cfr. 1 Pet 2, 5 and 9). The
canonical norms which govern it aim at ensuring this mission.
20. By virtue of that very Baptism which made him
or her a member of Christ, each baptized person is called, according to the
gifts of the one Holy Spirit, to serve within the community (cfr. 1 Cor 12,
4-27). Thus through communion, whereby all the members are at the service of
each other, the local Church appears already “synodal” or “conciliar” in its
structure. This “synodality” does not show itself only in the relationships
of solidarity, mutual assistance and complementarity which the various ordained
ministries have among themselves. Certainly, the presbyterium is the council
of the bishop (cfr. St Ignatius of Antioch, To the Trallians, 3), and
the deacon is his “right arm” (Didascalia Apostolorum, 2, 28, 6), so
that, according to the recommendation of St Ignatius of Antioch, everything
be done in concert (cfr. To the Ephesians, 6). Synodality, however,
also involves all the members of the community in obedience to the bishop,
who is the protos and head (kephale) of the local Church,
required by ecclesial communion. In keeping with Eastern and Western
traditions, the active participation of the laity, both men and women, of
monastics and consecrated persons, is effected in the diocese and the parish
through many forms of service and mission.
21. The charisms of the members of the community
have their origin in the one Holy Spirit, and are directed to the good of
all. This fact sheds light on both the demands and the limits of the
authority of each one in the Church. There should be neither passivity nor
substitution of functions, neither negligence nor domination of anyone by
another. All charisms and ministries in the Church converge in unity under
the ministry of the bishop, who serves the communion of the local Church. All
are called to be renewed by the Holy Spirit in the sacraments and to respond
in constant repentance (metanoia), so that their communion in truth
and charity is ensured.
2. The Regional
Level
22. Since the Church reveals itself to be
catholic in the synaxis of the local Church, this catholicity must
truly manifest itself in communion with the other Churches which confess the
same apostolic faith and share the same basic ecclesial structure, beginning
with those close at hand in virtue of their common responsibility for mission
in that region which is theirs (cfr. Munich Document, III, 3, and Valamo
Document, nn.52 and 53). Communion among Churches is expressed in the
ordination of bishops. This ordination is conferred according to canonical
order by three or more bishops, or at least two (cfr. Nicaea I, Canon 4), who
act in the name of the episcopal body and of the people of God, having
themselves received their ministry from the Holy Spirit by the imposition of
hands in the apostolic succession. When this is accomplished in conformity
with the canons, communion among Churches in the true faith, sacraments and
ecclesial life is ensured, as well as living communion with previous
generations.
23. Such effective communion among several local
Churches, each being the Catholic Church in a particular place, has been
expressed by certain practices: the participation of the bishops of
neighbouring sees at the ordination of a bishop to the local Church; the
invitation to a bishop from another Church to concelebrate at the synaxis
of the local Church; the welcome extended to the faithful from these other
Churches to partake of the eucharistic table; the exchange of letters on the
occasion of an ordination; and the provision of material assistance.
24. A canon accepted in the East as in the West,
expresses the relationship between the local Churches of a region: “The
bishops of each province (ethnos) must recognize the one who is first
(protos) amongst them, and consider him to be their head (kephale),
and not do anything important without his consent (gnome); each bishop
may only do what concerns his own diocese (paroikia) and its dependent
territories. But the first (protos) cannot do anything without the
consent of all. For in this way concord (homonoia) will prevail, and
God will be praised through the Lord in the Holy Spirit” (Apostolic Canon
34).
25. This norm, which re-emerges in several forms
in canonical tradition, applies to all the relations between the bishops of a
region, whether those of a province, a metropolitanate, or a patriarchate.
Its practical application may be found in the synods or the councils of a
province, region or patriarchate. The fact that the composition of a regional
synod is always essentially episcopal, even when it includes other members of
the Church, reveals the nature of synodal authority. Only bishops have a
deliberative voice. The authority of a synod is based on the nature of the
episcopal ministry itself, and manifests the collegial nature of the
episcopate at the service of the communion of Churches.
26. A synod (or council) in itself implies the
participation of all the bishops of a region. It is governed by the principle
of consensus and concord (homonoia), which is signified by eucharistic
concelebration, as is implied by the final doxology of the above-mentioned
Apostolic Canon 34. The fact remains, however, that each bishop in his
pastoral care is judge, and is responsible before God for the affairs of his
own diocese (cfr. St Cyprian, Ep. 55, 21); thus he is the guardian of
the catholicity of his local Church, and must be always careful to promote
catholic communion with other Churches.
27. It follows that a regional synod or council
does not have any authority over other ecclesiastical regions. Nevertheless,
the exchange of information and consultations between the representatives of
several synods are a manifestation of catholicity, as well as of that
fraternal mutual assistance and charity which ought to be the rule between
all the local Churches, for the greater common benefit. Each bishop is responsible
for the whole Church together with all his colleagues in one and the same
apostolic mission.
28. In this manner several ecclesiastical provinces
have come to strengthen their links of common responsibility. This was one of
the factors giving rise to the patriarchates in the history of our Churches.
Patriarchal synods are governed by the same ecclesiological principles and
the same canonical norms as provincial synods.
29. In subsequent centuries, both in the East and in
the West, certain new configurations of communion between local Churches have
developed. New patriarchates and autocephalous Churches have been founded in
the Christian East, and in the Latin Church there has recently emerged a
particular pattern of grouping of bishops, the Episcopal Conferences. These
are not, from an ecclesiological standpoint, merely administrative
subdivisions: they express the spirit of communion in the Church, while at
the same time respecting the diversity of human cultures.
30. In fact, regional synodality, whatever its contours
and canonical regulation, demonstrates that the Church of God is not a
communion of persons or local Churches cut off from their human roots.
Because it is the community of salvation and because this salvation is “the
restoration of creation” (cfr. St Irenaeus, Adv. Haer., 1, 36, 1), it
embraces the human person in everything which binds him or her to
human reality as created by God. The Church is not just a collection of
individuals; it is made up of communities with different cultures, histories
and social structures.
31. In the grouping of local Churches at the regional
level, catholicity appears in its true light. It is the expression of the
presence of salvation not in an undifferentiated universe but in humankind as
God created it and comes to save it. In the mystery of salvation, human
nature is at the same time both assumed in its fullness and cured of what sin
has infused into it by way of self-sufficiency, pride, distrust of others,
aggressiveness, jealousy, envy, falsehood and hatred. Ecclesial koinonia
is the gift by which all humankind is joined together, in the Spirit of the
risen Lord. This unity, created by the Spirit, far from lapsing into
uniformity, calls for and thus preserves – and, in a certain way, enhances –
diversity and particularity.
3. The Universal
Level
32. Each local Church is in communion not only
with neighbouring Churches, but with the totality of the local Churches, with
those now present in the world, those which have been since the beginning,
and those which will be in the future, and with the Church already in glory.
According to the will of Christ, the Church is one and indivisible, the same
always and in every place. Both sides confess, in the
Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, that the Church is one and catholic. Its
catholicity embraces not only the diversity of human communities but also
their fundamental unity.
33. It is clear, therefore, that one and the same
faith is to be confessed and lived out in all the local Churches, the same
unique Eucharist is to be celebrated everywhere, and one and the same
apostolic ministry is to be at work in all the communities. A local Church
cannot modify the Creed, formulated by the ecumenical Councils, although the
Church ought always “to give suitable answers to new problems, answers based
on the Scriptures and in accord and essential continuity with the previous
expressions of dogmas” (Bari Document, n.29). Equally, a local Church cannot
change a fundamental point regarding the form of ministry by a unilateral decision,
and no local Church can celebrate the Eucharist in wilful separation from
other local Churches without seriously affecting ecclesial communion. In all
of these things one touches on the bond of communion itself – thus, on the
very being of the Church.
34. It is because of this communion that all the
Churches, through canons, regulate everything relating to the Eucharist and
the sacraments, the ministry and ordination, and the handing on (paradosis)
and teaching (didaskalia) of the faith. It is clear why in this domain
canonical rules and disciplinary norms are needed.
35. In the course of history, when serious problems
arose affecting the universal communion and concord between Churches – in
regard either to the authentic interpretation of the faith, or to ministries
and their relationship to the whole Church, or to the common discipline which
fidelity to the Gospel requires - recourse was made to Ecumenical Councils.
These councils were ecumenical not just because they assembled together
bishops from all regions and particularly those of the five major sees, Rome,
Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, according to the ancient
order (taxis). It was also because their solemn doctrinal decisions
and their common faith formulations, especially on crucial points, are
binding for all the Churches and all the faithful, for all times and all
places. This is why the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils remain
normative.
36. The history of the Ecumenical Councils shows
what are to be considered their special characteristics. This matter needs to
be studied further in our future dialogue, taking account of the evolution of
ecclesial structures during recent centuries in the East and the West.
37. The ecumenicity of the decisions of a council
is recognized through a process of reception of either long or short
duration, according to which the people of God as a whole – by means of
reflection, discernment, discussion and prayer - acknowledge in these
decisions the one apostolic faith of the local Churches, which has always
been the same and of which the bishops are the teachers (didaskaloi)
and the guardians. This process of reception is differently interpreted in
East and West according to their respective canonical traditions.
38. Conciliarity or synodality involves,
therefore, much more than the assembled bishops. It involves also their
Churches. The former are bearers of and give voice to the faith of the
latter. The bishops’ decisions have to be received in the life of the
Churches, especially in their liturgical life. Each Ecumenical Council
received as such, in the full and proper sense, is, accordingly, a
manifestation of and service to the communion of the whole Church.
39. Unlike diocesan and regional synods, an
Ecumenical Council is not an “institution” whose frequency can be regulated
by canons; it is rather an “event”, a kairos inspired by the Holy
Spirit who guides the Church so as to engender within it the institutions
which it needs and which respond to its nature. This harmony between the
Church and the councils is so profound that, even after the break between
East and West which rendered impossible the holding of Ecumenical Councils in
the strict sense of the term, both Churches continued to hold councils
whenever serious crises arose. These councils gathered together the bishops
of local Churches in communion with the See of Rome or, although understood
in a different way, with the See of Constantinople, respectively. In the
Roman Catholic Church, some of these councils held in the West were regarded
as ecumenical. This situation, which obliged both sides of Christendom to
convoke councils proper to each of them, favoured dissensions which
contributed to mutual estrangement. The means which will allow the
re-establishment of ecumenical consensus must be sought out.
40. During the first millennium, the universal
communion of the Churches in the ordinary course of events was maintained
through fraternal relations between the bishops. These relations, among the
bishops themselves, between the bishops and their respective protoi,
and also among the protoi themselves in the canonical order (taxis)
witnessed by the ancient Church, nourished and consolidated ecclesial
communion. History records the consultations, letters and appeals to major
sees, especially to that of Rome, which vividly express the solidarity that koinonia
creates. Canonical provisions such as the inclusion of the names of the
bishops of the principal sees in the diptychs and the communication of the
profession of faith to the other patriarchs on the occasion of elections, are
concrete expressions of koinonia.
41. Both sides agree that this canonical taxis
was recognised by all in the era of the undivided Church. Further, they agree
that Rome, as the Church that “presides in love” according to the phrase of
St Ignatius of Antioch (To the Romans, Prologue), occupied the first
place in the taxis, and that the bishop of Rome was therefore the protos
among the patriarchs. They disagree, however, on the interpretation of the
historical evidence from this era regarding the prerogatives of the bishop of
Rome as protos, a matter that was already understood in different ways
in the first millennium.
42. Conciliarity at the universal level,
exercised in the ecumenical councils, implies an active role of the bishop of
Rome, as protos of the bishops of the major sees, in the consensus of
the assembled bishops. Although the bishop of Rome did not convene the
ecumenical councils of the early centuries and never personally presided over
them, he nevertheless was closely involved in the process of decision-making
by the councils.
43. Primacy and conciliarity are mutually
interdependent. That is why primacy at the different levels of the life of
the Church, local, regional and universal, must always be considered in the
context of conciliarity, and conciliarity likewise in the context of primacy.
Concerning primacy at the different levels, we
wish to affirm the following points:
1. Primacy at all levels is a practice firmly
grounded in the canonical tradition of the Church.
2. While the fact of primacy at the universal
level is accepted by both East and West, there are differences of
understanding with regard to the manner in which it is to be exercised, and
also with regard to its scriptural and theological foundations.
44. In the history of the East and of the West, at
least until the ninth century, a series of prerogatives was recognised,
always in the context of conciliarity, according to the conditions of the
times, for the protos or kephale at each of the established
ecclesiastical levels: locally, for the bishop as protos of his
diocese with regard to his presbyters and people; regionally, for the protos
of each metropolis with regard to the bishops of his province, and for the protos
of each of the five patriarchates, with regard to the metropolitans of each
circumscription; and universally, for the bishop of Rome as protos
among the patriarchs. This distinction of levels does not diminish the
sacramental equality of every bishop or the catholicity of each local Church.
Conclusion
45. It remains for the question of the role of
the bishop of Rome in the communion of all the Churches to be studied in
greater depth. What is the specific function of the bishop of the “first see”
in an ecclesiology of koinonia and in view of what we have said on
conciliarity and authority in the present text? How should the teaching of
the first and second Vatican councils on the universal primacy be understood
and lived in the light of the ecclesial practice of the first millennium?
These are crucial questions for our dialogue and for our hopes of restoring
full communion between us.
46. We, the members of the Joint International
Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and
the Orthodox Church, are convinced that the above statement on ecclesial
communion, conciliarity and authority represents positive and significant
progress in our dialogue, and that it provides a firm basis for future
discussion of the question of primacy at the universal level in the Church.
We are conscious that many difficult questions remain to be clarified, but we
hope that, sustained by the prayer of Jesus “That they may all be one … so
that the world may believe” (Jn 17, 21), and in obedience to the Holy Spirit,
we can build upon the agreement already reached. Reaffirming and confessing
“one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4, 5), we give glory to God the Holy
Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who has gathered us together.
[1]
Orthodox participants felt it important to emphasize that the use of the
terms “the Church”, “the universal Church”, “the indivisible Church” and “the
Body of Christ” in this document and in similar documents produced by the
Joint Commission in no way undermines the self-understanding of the Orthodox
Church as the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, of which the Nicene
Creed speaks. From the Catholic point of view, the same self-awareness
applies: the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church “subsists in the
Catholic Church” (Lumen Gentium, 8); this does not exclude
acknowledgement that elements of the true Church are present outside the
Catholic communion.
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‘Ravenna Document’
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