CENTRO PRO UNIONE N. 73 - Spring 2008 ISSN: 1122-0384 semi-annual Bulletin In this issue: Letter from the Director...................................................p. 2 The Catholic Church, Faith and Order, and BEM John A. Radano ...................................................p. 3 The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – Origin and Continuing Inspiration of the Ecumenical Movement Walter Cardinal Kasper.............................................. p. 15 A Bibliography of Interchurch and Interconfessional Theological Dialogues Twenty-third Supplement (2008) ........................................ p. 21 Centro Pro Unione - Via S. Maria dell'Anima, 30 - 00186 Rome, Italy A Center conducted by the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement www.prounione.urbe.it Director's Desk 0 The year 2008 marked a special date for the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement. One hundred years earlier between January 18 and 25, their Founder, Fr. Paul Wattson began what was then called the Church Unity Octave. I would like to share with our readers the words of encouragement from Benedict XVI’s Angelus greetings on January 20, 2008: “Two days ago we began the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, during which Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants, aware that their divisions constitute an obstacle to welcoming the Gospel, implore together the Lord, in a more intense way, the gift of full communion. This providential initiative was born 100 years ago when Fr. Paul Wattson began an “Octave” of prayer for the unity of all of Christ’s disciples. For this reason, the spiritual sons and daughters of Fr. Wattson, the Friars and Sisters of the Atonement, are present today in St. Peter’s Square. I cordially greet them and encourage them to continue in their special dedication to the cause of unity. We all have the obligation to pray and to work to overcome every division among Christians responding to the wish of Christ “Ut unum sint”. Prayer, conversion of heart, the strengthening of the bonds of communion form the essence of this spiritual movement that we wish might soon lead the disciples of Christ to the common celebration of the Eucharist, manifestation of their full unity.” We are pleased to include in this issue of the Bulletin the lecture of Cardinal Kasper given at the Centro Pro Unione during the Week of Prayer celebration. During this event, the Friars of the Atonement awarded the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Faith & Order Commission the Paul Wattson Christian Unity Award for their faithfulness in promoting prayer for the unity of Christians. We will be printing the text of Dr. John Gibault’s homily preached during the service in the next Bulletin. You will also find the text of Msgr. John Radano for the 25 anniversary of the Lima Text. Theth Centro wishes to thank Msgr. Radano for his support during his years in Rome. After a sabatical, he will be returning ot the USA to continue his ecumenical mission by teaching and helping his own archdiocese in its ecumenical mission. We also wish farewell to Bishop John Flack, retiring director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury. John has been a good friend and great promotor od ecumenism. We shall miss them both. Lastly, the twent-third supplement of the bibliography on ecumenical dialogues complied by our librarian, Dr. Loredana Nepi is in this Bulletin. From the numerous items we can see that ecumenical relations between the churches continue to grow and deepen. Not only does the research point in this direction but also the numerous groups who have come to the Centro this year indicate a desire to fulfill the prayer of Jesus “ut unum omnes sint”. Groups as diverse as a Lutheran college from North America and a study group organized by the the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Mennonite Council working on “The proposed ‘International Ecumenical Peace Conference’ to culminate the Decade to Overcome Violence have used the Centro’s facilities and staff for their work. This Bulletin is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database, published by the American Theological Library Association, 250 S. Wacker Drive, 16 Floor, Chicago, IL 60606 (thhttp://www.atla.com). James F. Puglisi, sa DirectorN. 73 / Spring 2008Bulletin / Centro Pro Unione 3 Centro Conferences CCCC The Catholic Church, Faith and Order, and BEM John A. Radano Head of the Western Section, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Conference given at the Centro Pro Unione, Thursday, 15 November 2007) Introduction We celebrate in 2007 the 25 Anniversary of the th Faith and Order convergence text, Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM). This paper, as a contribution to this celebration, will have four main parts. First an introduction to the partnership between the Catholic Church and the WCC over more than forty years. Second the Catholic Church and Faith and Order. Third, the Catholic Church and BEM. Fourth, BEM and ecumenical hopes for the future. I. The Partnership Between the World Council of Churches and the Catholic Church The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity has high regard for Faith and Order and has paid1 a lot of attention to BEM, which I intend to illustrate in this paper. It gives a certain priority to Faith and Order among all the ways in which it is involved with the World Council of Churches (WCC). But it is helpful to put this in the context of the broad range of contacts and relationships the Catholic Church has with the WCC. The Catholic Church is not a member of the WCC. But since the time of Vatican II the Catholic Church and the WCC have undertaken a significant collaboration in service, also, to the whole ecumenical movement. The WCC was the Catholic Church’s first ecumenical partner. If I were to list ten great ecumenical achieve- ments involving the Catholic Church in the forty years since Vatican II, I would include the close relationship, in some ways the partnership, that has developed be- tween the Catholic Church and the WCC during that time. Even before Vatican II, in 1961, the then Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity (SPCU) sent five Catholic observers to the WCC Assembly at New Delhi, India. After Pope John XXIII, in 1961, gave the approval to invite observers from other Churches and Christian World Communions to attend the coming Second Vatican Council, the WCC General Secretary Willem Visser ‘t Hooft gave some assistance to the very new SPCU and to Monsignor Willebrands, its Secretary, to make the contacts necessary to implement that decision.2 During the years of Vatican II, the SPCU sent two observers to the WCC World Mission Conference in Mexico in 1963. At the 1963 Fourth World Conference for Faith and Order in Montreal, Catholic biblical scholar Fr Raymond Brown gave a major address on the theme “Unity and Diversity in New Testament Ecclesio- logy,” in debate with Protestant scholar Ernst Käsemann. Also the WCC sent observers to all four 3 sessions of Vatican II. And while the Vatican Council was still in session, the WCC and Catholic Church formed a Joint Working Group (it was the first such ecumenical joint working group involving the Catholic Church), and it first met in May 1965 before the final session of Vatican II even began. From the time of the Vatican Council a broad range of contacts have developed between the Catholic Church and the WCC. Since 1966, the WCC Commission on Faith and Order and our Secretariat/Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity have prepared together the materials used throughout the world for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity each year. Since 1968 Catho- lic theologians have participated as full voting members of the Commission on Faith and Order. From 1968-1978 the WCC and the Catholic Church jointly sponsored the office called SODEPAX to foster cooperation on issues concerning society, development and peace. For about 25 years, a Catholic theologian supported financially by the Catholic Church has served as a faculty member at Founded in 1960 as the Secretariat for Promoting Christian 1 Unity, the name of this office of the Roman Curia was changed in 1988 to Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. W. A. VISSER ‘T HOOFT, Memoirs. Second edition, (Geneva: 2 WCC Publications, 1987) 329–330. D.M. PATON, “A Montreal Diary,” in P.C. RODGER and L. 3 VISCHER, (eds.), The Fourth World Conference on Faith and Order. The Report from Montreal 1963, Faith and Order Paper, 42 (Geneva/London/New York: World Council of Churches/SCM Press/Association Press, 1964) 16.4 Bulletin / Centro Pro UnioneN. 73 / Spring 2008 Bossey, the WCC’s Ecumenical Institute. Since 1984, a Catholic sister or lay woman involved in mission work has been a staff member in the WCC’s mission unit (again we arrange for her salary). There are good contacts between other offices of the Roman Curia with offices at the WCC dealing with similar issues, for example, to name only one, between the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the WCC unit working in the same field. Two Popes have visited the WCC (Paul VI in 1969, and John Paul II in 1984). WCC General Secretaries have visited Rome. Catholics sent by the PCPCU participate as fraternal delegates in WCC Central Committee meetings, and Catholic delegations have been part of all WCC General Assemblies since 1961, and of all WCC World Mission Conferences since 1963, and other significant WCC sponsored meetings. The WCC delegates have attended various events sponsored by the Holy See. Thus, the Catholic involvement with Faith and Order is very important especially because the Faith and Order Commission is the most diverse ecumenical body fostering dialogue among a broad multilateral range of Christian communions, on issues which need to be dealt with to reach the goal of visible unity (the goal stated in the Constitution of the Commission on Faith and Order, as well as in the constitution of the World Council of Churches). But Faith and Order is only one channel of the Catholic Church’s involvement with and in the World Council of Churches, even though, we think, the central one. II. The Catholic Church and Faith and Order a. Initial Contacts Informal contacts between Catholic theologians and Faith and Order began to take place before Vatican II in the 1950s. The Catholic Conference for Ecumenical Questions, founded in 1951 by Msgr Johannes Wille- brands and Fr. Frans Theissen, brought together each year prominent Catholic theologians with a deep interest in ecumenism. They gave particular attention to issues being studied in the WCC and especially in Faith and Order. In 1960, more formal contacts began when, for4 the first time, three Catholic observers attended the meeting that year of the Faith and Order Commission, at St Andrews, Scotland. They took part in the discussion 5 and one of them, Fr. Jérôme Hamer, addressed the Commission to explain Catholic ecumenical initiatives.6 I have already mentioned the participation of Ray- mond Brown at the 1963 World Conference on Faith and Order. There were also five observers there from the Roman Catholic Church and a host of other Catholics7 there as guests. These Catholics participated in a lively 8 manner. Already there was a noticeable growth in Catholic participation in WCC meetings. 9 b. Formal Participation in Faith and Order Catholic observers took part in the Faith and Order (F&O) meeting in Bristol 1967, and some were partici- pating already in different Faith and Order study groups. But in 1968 the decision was made by the10 WCC to invite Catholics as voting members of the Faith and Order Commission. They took part as full members for the first time in a F&O Plenary at the Commission meeting in Louvain, Belgium in 1971. Though by 1971, according to Faith and Order Director, Lukas Vischer, Catholic participation “was taken for granted” since Catholics were already participating in different ways, their participation at Louvain, as voting members, he said, was nonetheless one of the reasons why that meeting “may well be seen as a decisive turning point in the history of the Faith and Order movement.”11 There were initially nine Catholic Faith and Order commissioners. These included Fr. Raymond Brown (USA), Dom Emmanuel Lanne, OSB, Professor Jorge “1951-1963, Johannes Willebrands and the Catholic 4 Conference for Ecumenical Questions,” Information Service (=IS): Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Vatican City 101 (1999/II-III) 64f The three were Fr. René Beaupère, OP, Fr. Jérôme Hamer, OP, 5 and Fr. Bernhard Leeming, SJ, see, Commission on Faith and Order, Minutes of the Commission Meeting held at St Andrews, Scotland August 3rd to 8th, 1960 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1960) 2. Hamer’s address, ibid., 108-109. 6 Revd G. Baum (Canada), Revd G. Diekmann (USA); Prof. J. 7 C. Groot (Netherlands), Revd B. Lambert (Canada), Revd George Tavard (USA) see P.C. RODGER and L. VISCHER, (eds.), The Fourth World Conference..., op. cit., 113. They are listed under “Italy.” Ibid., cf. “Guests,” 116–117. 8 According to David M. Paton, “At New Delhi 1961 the Roman 9 Catholic observers had behaved ‘correctly,’ taking part with enthusiasm, but with one exception, they had not spoken in formal meeting. … In Montreal a main paper in General Session was given by a Roman Catholic scholar, and … in Section and Sub–section it was usually impossible to tell the status of the participants, since all participated with equal freedom.” (“A Montreal Diary,” in P.C. RODGER and L. VISCHER, (eds.), The Fourth World Conference...,ibid., 20). New Directions in Faith and Order, Bristol 1967, Reports, 10 Minutes, Documents, Faith and Order Paper, 50 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1968). At Bristol there were four Catholic Observers (84) and Catholic theologians participating in different Faith and Order Studies (176-178). Faith and Order Louvain 1971, Study Reports and 11 Documents, Faith and Order Paper, 59 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1971), Preface by Lukas Vischer, 5-6.N. 73 / Spring 2008Bulletin / Centro Pro Unione 5 Medina (Chile), Professor Joseph Ratzinger (Tübingen), Professor Walter Burghardt, SJ (USA), Professor Umberto Betti, OFM (Rome), Revd Bernard Dupuy, OP (Istina, Paris), Professor Samuel Rayan (India), Revd Th. Tshibangu (Kinshasa, Congo). Fr. Jerome Hamer, OP, was liaison of SPCU to Faith and Order. Dom Emmanuel Lanne, OSB, was also a member of the smaller “Working Committee.” Prominent Catholic12 theologians from different continents have continued to participate fully in the Faith and Order Commission since then, and to contribute to all F&O studies includ- ing the Lima Text, Baptism Eucharist and Ministry. c. Papal Support for Faith and Order There has been significant Papal support for Catholic participation in Faith and Order, and for Faith and Order itself. What has been described thus far was done with the approval of Pope John XXIII and of Pope Paul VI. Pope John Paul II especially had given strong support to Faith and Order, and to BEM. He (and his successor Benedict XVI) celebrate the Week of Prayer for Unity using the materials prepared together by F&O/PCPCU. John Paul II received and encouraged Faith and Order working groups meeting in Rome in 1980 and 1989, and the Faith and Order Standing Commission in 1991 when it met in Rome. Particularly interesting is the way Pope John Paul II supported the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order which met August 9-16, 1993, in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. This was the first Faith and Order World Conference since Montreal (1963) and the first in which Catholic theologians attended as full participants and voting members. It was the first time that Catholics had participated with the right to vote, in any world conference sponsored by the World Council of Church- es. John Paul II not only sent a message to this World Conference, but he supported it in several other ways. The Pope’s message to the World Conference was directed to Faith and Order Moderator Dr Mary Tanner and was read to the Conference by PCPCU President Cardinal Cassidy, who also gave his own address. The Pope expressed his regard for “the Commission’s patient dedication to the work of overcoming the divisions among Christians.” He praised important “Faith and Order studies,” which he said, “have been of great service to the cause of Christian unity by identifying points of convergence and even agreement on issues over which believers have long been divided. This is indeed a significant accomplishment.” He described the World Conference’s theme “Towards Koinonia in Faith, Life and Witness,” as significant because the reflection on “the nature of koinônia seems especially appropriate, for ecclesial communion … is a notion which the Sacred Scriptures use as a key for understanding the efficacy of the Lord’s grace in the lives of his disciples.”13 The Pope expressed his interest in the World Confer- ence in other significant ways. On the same day that his message was being read to the World Conference by Cardinal Cassidy, (August 10, 1993), John Paul II was on a pastoral visit to Jamaica. In an address there he referred to the World Conference and to the message he sent to it, underlining again the importance of the World Conference’s focus on koinonia, and specifying how study of that theme could assist dialogue on important issues. It could help, for example, the study of the relationship between the Universal Church and the particular churches, and for exploring the richness of diversity within Communion.14 Furthermore, on Cardinal Cassidy’s return to Rome after the World Conference, he was informed that the Pope was anxious to receive information about the World Conference and its results. A brief report was therefore sent to him then by the PCPCU and a more detailed report later. On October 8, two months after the World Confer- ence, Cardinal Cassidy, Bishop Duprey and several PCPCU staff members were invited by the Pope to discuss with him the broad range of ecumenical activi- ties in which the PCPCU is involved. Discussion started before lunch and continued through lunch. He wanted to be brought up to date on these activities and he specifi- cally mentioned his interest in discussing two particular themes: firstly, the meeting in Balamand, Lebanon, of the Joint International Roman Catholic-Orthodox Commission in July 1993, which had published an important text concerning “Uniatism, Method of Union of the Past, and the Present Search for Full Commis- sion,” and secondly the Faith and Order World Confer- ence at Santiago de Compostela. The Pope also referred to the World Conference the following January 1994, in two addresses during the Commission on Faith and Order. Minutes of the Meeting of 12 the Working Committee, August 3–8, 1970, Crêt-Bérard, Switzerland, Faith and Order Paper, 57 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1970) 49-56. His message in L’Osservatore Romano, Weekly English 13 edition (hereafter ORE) August 18, 1993, p. 14, and in T.F. BEST and G. GASSMANN (eds.), On the Way to Fuller Koinonia. Official Report of the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order, Santiago de Compostela 1993, Faith and Order Paper, 166 (Geneva: WCC Publications 1994) 301; http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/1993. For this presentation on the Pope and Santiago de Compostela, cf. J.A. RADANO “Pope John Paul II’s Reflection on the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order,” Mid-Stream 33, 4 (1994) 463- 470. His address in Jamaica in ORE, August 18, 1993, p. 4. 146 Bulletin / Centro Pro UnioneN. 73 / Spring 2008 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In light of the ongoing war at that time in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Pope asked that the celebration of the Week of Prayer in 1994 be related to ecumenical prayer for Bosnia- Herzegovina. With the additional focus on prayer for peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina and a sense of support for the churches and others there, he especially wanted to give an expression of hope. In two addresses the Pope mentioned the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order, presenting it as a sign of hope that progress is being made toward Christian unity. In a homily on 23 January 1994 the Pope noted that 1993 “was marked by many encouraging signs of progress on the difficult path to Christian unity.” He listed a number of important events, but mentioned first the Faith and Order Conference at Santiago de Compostela where the theologians, he said, “engaged in deep reflection on the theme of ecclesial communion.” 15 But in his address only some days earlier at a weekly General Audience on January 19, the Pope again illus- trated ecumenical progress during 1993, but using only the example of the Fifth World Conference. He men- tioned several significant details about that Conference. He called it “prominent among the many signs of this progress in ecumenical dialogue during the past year.” He mentioned that for the first time in this type of meeting (World Conference) “representatives of the Catholic Church actively participated as fully-fledged members.” He alluded to the message he had sent to the World Conference promising his prayers that God would bless its work on the path toward full visible unity. And then he prayed for the gift of full unity, taking, as he said “some beautiful phrases from the prayer recited at Santiago de Compostela” found in the Fifth World Conference’s message: Holy and loving Trinity: We come to you in thanksgiving for the gift of Koinonia which we receive as the first fruits of your Kingdom… We come to you in expectation, that we may enter more deeply into the joy of Koinonia; We come to you with confidence and to commit ourselves anew to your purposes of love, justice and Koinonia. 16 This, he said, “is our prayer and our commitment. May the Lord grant all Christians a renewed enthusiasm in seeking that full, visible communion for which Christ gave his life.”17 He mentioned the World Conference on Faith and Order also in Ut unum sint (1995). In this encyclical, John Paul II surveys some of the major achievements of the recent ecumenical movement. He cites the work of the Commission on Faith and Order a number of times. First, in reference to the ultimate goal of the ecumenical movement which is to re-establish full visible unity among all the baptized, the encyclical says, that “the steady work of the Commission on Faith and Order has led to a comparable vision about unity adopted by the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of Churches in the Canberra Declaration [1991] … and reaffirmed by the World Conference of Faith and Order at Santiago de Compostela [1993].” 18 He notes, too, that the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order (1993) recommended that the Commis- sion “begin a new study of the question of a universal ministry of Christian unity.” 19 The Pope mentioned BEM in the encyclical as well. We now turn our attention to that historic document. III. The Catholic Church and BEM a. Faith and Order at Lima, Peru, 1982 The Commission on Faith and Order meeting in Lima in 1982 voted unanimously without any negative votes or abstentions in favor of the motion “that Faith and 20 Order’s revised text on ‘Baptism, Eucharist and Minis- try’ was ‘mature’ enough to be sent to the churches for In ORE, January 26, 1994, pp. 1-2. Original Italian OR, 15 January 25, 1994, p. 7. ORE, January 26, 1994 p. 11; OR, January 20, 1994, p. 4. 16 Ibid. 17 Ut unum sint [UUS], 78, note 129. 18 UUS, 89, including note 148. 19 M. KINNAMON (ed.), Towards Visible Unity. Commission 20 on Faith and Order, Lima 1982. Volume I: Minutes and Addresses, Faith and Order Paper, 112 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1982) 84. They did not ask that every member agree to every article in the text, but that it was now ready to be sent to the churches (ibid., 83).N. 73 / Spring 2008Bulletin / Centro Pro Unione 7 reception and official response.” The Preface to the21 Minutes of that meeting interpreted the historical mean- ing of that vote in this way: “History may show this to be one of the most significant moments of the modern ecumenical movement! That unanimous vote marks the end of a study process going back to the First World Conference of Faith and Order in Lausanne (1927). It also marks the first time in the ecumeni- cal movement that theologians of such varied backgrounds (Protestants, Orthodox and Roman Catholics from around the world) have spoken so harmoniously on fundamental matters of doctrine. And it initiated a process of reception that is unprecedented in the history of the World Coun- cil.”22 b. Catholic Participants at Lima Meeting, 1982 There were 82 voting members of whom eleven were Catholic theologians coming from different parts of the world. They included Samuel Rayan (India), André Mampila (Zaire), Juan Gutierrez (Mexico), Alfredo Altamira (Argentina), Raymond F. Brown (USA), Bernard Dupuy (France), Walter Kasper (Tübingen, Germany), Dom Emmanuel Lanne (Belgium), Luigi Sartori (Italy), Jean Tillard (Canada), M. Teresa Porcile (Uruguay), Franz Bouwen (Jerusalem). Fr. Jean23 Tillard, OP, was a vice–moderator of Faith and Order, Father Raymond Brown had been at the fourth Faith and Order World Conference in 1963 in Montreal. Dom Emmanuel Lanne, OSB, was a Peritus of Vatican II, and an early participant in Faith and Order (1960s). Fr Frans Bouwen, M.Afr., a substitute for another Catholic member, is today a vice–moderator of the current F&O Commission. Four Catholic consultants included Fr. A. Dulles, Fr. R. Beaupère, Dr A. Houtepen and Fr. G. Voss.24 A Catholic Theologian’s Perspective on Reception Besides the discussion on various issues including BEM, several formal presentations were made during the Lima meeting which related to the Faith and Order agenda. Among these was the address of the Catholic Commissioner, Dom Emmanuel Lanne, OSB, entitled “The Problem of ‘Reception’.” This concerned the next25 great challenge: the reception of BEM in the churches. Lanne introduced the problem of reception in relation- ship to the achievement of BEM, showing that the four questions addressed to the churches at the end of the Preface to BEM were meant to help the churches “to face up to a new situation” created by BEM. The church- es needed “to discern what constitutes the novelty of this situation created by the convergence in three areas where Christians have been radically divided for centuries.”26 Lanne stated that “reception is a problem for all the churches,” not simply because BEM “continues to question the churches of each tradition without excep- tion, but, above all, because each and every church is confronted here with the apostolic Church.” “Precisely 27 because this document requires a concrete reception, a commitment, from the churches, it places them all, and especially those most attached to the tradition, in a new situation.28 According to Lanne the idea of reception is complex for various reasons. “If an ecumenical convergence is really to be received and a consensus declared, it is the very heart of the ecclesial life which must be reached.”29 Dialogue has created a new situation. As a result of the Faith and Order work on baptism, eucharist and minis- Ibid., Preface, 1. In the discussion, Father Jean Tillard said he 21 believed that it would be impossible to get a better text now. He offered four reasons in support of sending it to the churches. (1) That this text would be an important contribution to the bilateral conversations since these will now be obliged to judge their dialogues in light of common Christian thinking. (2) The text would provide a framework for church union conversations, especially in discussions of the sacraments. (3) The text would give hope to the churches at a time when they seem to have lost hope in the ecumenical movement. BEM will prove that Faith and Order represents a serious common effort. (4) The text provides proof that the Holy Spirit is at work in the churches (ibid., 84). Ibid., 1. 22 Ibid., 142-143. 23 Among the impressive group of Orthodox and Protestant 24 theologians were four who held the Fr. Jean Tillard chair of ecumenical studies at the Angelicum University – Dr Mary Tanner, Professor John Zizioulas, Dr William Rusch, Dr Paul Crow, and others who have lectured in Roman Pontifical Universities – Dr Geoffrey Wainwright and Dr Günther Gassmann. Dom Emmanuel Lanne, “The Problem of ‘Reception’,” in M. 25 KINNAMON (ed.), Towards Visibile Unity .., op. cit., 44–53. Ibid., 44. 26 Ibid., 46. The first question asked of the churches is “the 27 extent to which your church can recognize in this text the faith of the Church through the ages” (BEM, Preface). Ibid. The second question: “The consequences your church 28 can draw from this text for its relations and dialogues with other churches, particularly with those churches which also recognize the text as an expression of the apostolic Faith (BEM, Preface). Ibid., 45. 298 Bulletin / Centro Pro UnioneN. 73 / Spring 2008 try, but also of the findings reached or nearly reached by many bilateral dialogues between Christian World Communions or between local churches of different traditions, “[a] situation has been created” according to Lanne, “which … is without precedent in Christian his- tory. In place of a process of separation and disin- tegration, and a consequent state of division reinforced by mutual excommunications and anathemas, a reverse process has been initiated, one of synthesis, convergence, of mutual openness and attention.” 30 There is a complete change in the ecumenical situa- tion. This brings difficulties and dangers, and requires fresh efforts by the churches if they are to surmount these difficulties. He warns that, in fact, steps involving reception could invoke tensions and divisions within a church, as well as in its relation with other churches. 31 He uses as an example the Catholic Church. Because of its worldwide extension across the most diverse cultures and social classes, as well as its distinctive structure, it is especially sensitive to the pastoral consequences of any step toward reception for which careful preparations have not been made at the local level. And then, in the three areas of baptism, eucharist and ministry, Vatican II “achieved a renewal and a great many radical reforms.” On the one hand to some extent this renewal and these reforms “make our Roman Catholic ecumenical commit- ment credible.” On the other hand, throughout the entire Catholic Church this renewal and these reforms which began at Vatican II “can hardly be called complete even today.” But in these same areas BEM once again chal- lenges the Catholic Church, even as reformed by Vatican II. But insofar as the Catholic Church finds it possible to deal faithfully with the challenges posed to it by its ecumenical partners, “a second reception process will need to be initiated, one which is convergent with that of other churches. What is involved here is a new, inescap- able and difficult step.”32 Lanne underlined that the difficulties of reception are intensified by the fact that the churches are less prepared to submit to a reception process. To overcome these difficulties, he said, “they can do only one thing: make the apostolic Church their point of reference, for it is the faith of this apostolic Church that … ‘Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry’ seeks to express.33 Having noted these difficulties concerning reception how, then, did the Catholic Church go about responding to BEM? It is this to which we now turn. BEM was studied by Catholics in various parts of the world. But our focus will be on the way the Holy See responded to BEM. c. The Catholic Response to BEM After voting in 1982 that BEM was mature enough to be sent to the churches for response and reception, Faith and Order respectfully invited all churches “to prepare an official response to this text at the highest appropriate level of authority, whether it be a council, synod, confer- ence, assembly or other body” (Preface to BEM). It asked that responses be sent to the Faith and Order Secretariat by December 31, 1984. The Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity imme- diately began its response to this invitation in 1982, in a way that reflected the Catholic Church’s self–understanding as one Church of a universal nature comprising many local or particular churches in commu- nion with one another and with the Church of Rome and its Bishop. The process of response was coordinated by the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, and aimed at developing one response, to which contributions would come from the many local or particular churches and which would also involve the appropriate offices of the Roman curia at the universal level.34 Three Steps The process of developing a response to BEM took place over a five year period, 1982-1987, and included three basic steps. The first step was a broad consultation within the Catholic Church. The SPCU set out to foster consultation and study of BEM in the Catholic Church throughout the world. This in itself was no easy thing because, since the Catholic Church is not a member of the WCC, neither the WCC, nor Faith and Order nor BEM initially was particularly within the awareness of many Catholics. With a letter dated December 6, 1982, the SPCU sent BEM to all of the Catholic Episcopal Conferences asking that they submit it to “serious study by theology faculties and major seminaries,” inviting the Conferences to send to the Secretariat their reflections on BEM by May 1984 so that SPCU could meet Faith and Order’s deadline of December 1984. Ibid., 47. 30 Ibid. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid., 48. 33 Much of this presentation on the Catholic response to BEM 34 can be found in John A. Radano “The Catholic Church and BEM, 1980-1989,” Mid-Stream 30, 2 (1991) 138-156, especially 146- 156.N. 73 / Spring 2008Bulletin / Centro Pro Unione 9 When the 1983 WCC Assembly in Vancouver extended the deadline for responses to BEM by one year, to December 1985, the SPCU in November 1983 again wrote to the Bishops’ Conferences to inform them and to extend the deadline to send their responses to SPCU by one year to May 1985. But this second mailing was also useful because with it the SPCU provided two Faith and Order resources which could help in studying BEM, namely a commentary on BEM edited by Max Thurian: Ecumenical Perspectives on Baptism, Eucha- rist and Ministry, (Geneva 1983), useful especially for theological schools, and also a 1982 study guide pre- pared by then F&O Director William Lazareth, Growing Together in Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (Geneva 1982) geared toward study in congregations and par- ishes. Study reports on BEM came to the SPCU from 26 Episcopal Conferences over the period of 1983-1987. 35 They came from all continents, though the majority came from Europe and North America. The reports 36 were different in length, style, approach. Some com- mented on all or most parts of BEM, while others focused on areas they considered the most significant points. Reports came to the SPCU not only from 37 Bishops’ Conferences, but also from Catholic theologi- cal faculties and seminaries in different countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland); or Catho- lic ecumenical organizations (NADEO, now CADEO), or articles written by individual Catholic theologians. After this internal consultation, the second step was the development of a draft response by the SPCU. The SPCU with the help of some theological consultants first analyzed the various Catholic reports and comments which came to it, seeking to determine how the four questions in the Preface were answered, which aspects of BEM were affirmed, where the areas of criticism were. While all the materials were important and taken into account, special emphasis was given to the reports of Episcopal Conferences. While they differed in approach, those reports generally were the result of a process of consultation within the conference involving theological faculty and/or ecumenical experts and/or other appropriate groups. The SPCU with a team of theologians then worked to develop a draft response to BEM. The draft was not simply a synthesis of the various reports sent to it, which was not feasible because of how different they were. But using the insights these reports provided the SPCU worked to develop a coher- ent and critical theological draft. The SPCU draft was38 produced by April 1986 and became the foundational text for the third step in the process. The third step was collaboration between the SPCU and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to bring the response to its final form. While Catholic study at every level involves responsibility to uphold Catholic doctrine, the CDF has primary responsi- bility for the promotion of sound doctrine in the Church. The CDF studied the draft text sent to it by SPCU, and the issues CDF raised were then treated in dialogue between it and the SPCU, after which a mutually agreed final version of the draft response emerged. According to the procedures of the CDF, a document it approves is then brought by the CDF Prefect to the Holy Father for his awareness and ratification. Once all of these steps were completed, the SPCU sent the Catholic response to BEM, forty pages long, to the Faith and Order Secretariat in August, 1987.39 The Intention and Nature of the Catholic Response There are three factors which illustrate the intention of the Catholic response to BEM. First in this response the Catholic Church sees itself as participating in a process which must continue towards the goal of the visible unity of Christians. BEM, as just said, represents convergences in three areas where Christians have been radically divided for centuries. The response wishes to affirm the process of convergence and to see it continue to flourish. 40 This is important, because Faith and Order presents BEM as a “convergence text.” It does not claim consen- sus on these three subjects, as ARCIC did on Eucharist and Ministry and the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification did on aspects of justification, even though one can say that there are many aspects of consensus in BEM. One lesson we all learned, because the effort seeking official 35 responses was all very new, was that a serious response process requires a lot more time than was envisioned at that time, either by the WCC with its suggested deadlines, or by the SPCU with the deadlines it set for responses by the Episcopal Conferences. Some come from countries where Catholicism has long been 36 the faith of the majority (France), others from countries where Catholics are substantial in numbers, but less than a majority (USA, England and Wales) and some from countries where Catholics are a minority (Thailand). A few conferences, besides sending their reports to the SPCU, 37 also published them on their own (USA, France, England and Wales). A progress report was presented for comments to a SPCU 38 Plenary in February 1986. Responses are published in M. THURAN (ed.), Churches 39 Respond to BEM: Official Responses to the ‘Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry’ Text, six volumes, (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1986-1988). The Catholic response cited as “Roman Catholic Church” is in Vol. VI:1-40 (henceforth cited as ‘Response’). Response, 4-5. 40Next >