The new document from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (DPCU), The Bishop of Rome: Primacy and synodality in ecumenical dialogues and responses to the encyclical Ut unum sint, is not light reading. With more than 40,000 words and 151 pages in length, this document seeks to present and synthesize nearly 30 years of ecumenical dialogue with a variety of Christian groups (Orthodox, Old Catholic, and Protestant) on the papacy, and includes many proposals and possible avenues of consensus about the role of the Pope as we work together to achieve Christian Unity.
The authors describe the document as a response “to the invitation addressed by Saint John Paul II to other Christians to find, ‘together, of course’, the forms in which the ministry of the Bishop of Rome ‘may accomplish a service of love recognized by all concerned'” (Preface). They also clarify that its status “is that of a ‘study document’ that does not claim to exhaust the subject nor to summarize the Catholic magisterium on it. Its purpose is to offer an objective synthesis of recent ecumenical developments on the theme, thus reflecting the insights but also the limitations of the dialogue documents themselves.” In other words, the document is principally an academic study giving an overview of the ongoing dialogue.
Although The Bishop of Rome was approved by the pope for publication, it is not magisterial. Additionally, given the nature of the study, it is also limited by the dialogue documents it analyzes — suggesting that some of the proposals it presents could potentially be rejected by the Church at a magisterial level.
Even still, the document promises to contribute significantly to the dialogue between Churches and ecclesial bodies and serves as starting point for further discussion. Additionally, there are a few controversial proposals that could point to new approaches to important questions. As the document asserts, “the proposals harvested from ecumenical dialogues and from responses to the encyclical Ut unum sint may serve as signposts for the Churches, in confidence that the Holy Spirit is at work illuminating the way towards an acceptable ministry of unity for the communion of the Churches as Christ wills” (30).
This effort by the DPCU is reminiscent of another curial document issued in 1998 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), then headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), The Primacy of the Successor of Peter in the Mystery of the Church. The 1998 document was also framed as a response to Pope John Paul II’s invitation in Ut unum sint, although its purpose was narrower — it sought “to recall the essential points of Catholic doctrine on the primacy, Christ’s great gift to his Church” (2). The Ratzinger document’s purpose was not to open up areas for further study, but to summarize the Catholic Church’s understanding of papal primacy that could serve as a reference point for future dialogue.
The conclusion of the document, entitled “Towards an Exercise of Primacy in the 21st century,” offers a series of proposals from the the dicastery suggesting the next steps that might be taken in this ongoing ecumenical dialogue about the ministry of the Bishop of Rome and the role of the papacy in Christian unity.
Vatican News provides a summary of these proposals:
“A first proposal is a Catholic ‘re-reception’, ‘re-interpretation’, ‘official interpretation’, ‘updated commentary’ or even ‘rewording’ of the teachings of Vatican I” that could involve “new expressions and vocabulary faithful to the original intention but integrated into a communio ecclesiology and adapted to the current cultural and ecumenical context.”
Some dialogues have suggested that “a clearer distinction” be made “between the different responsibilities of the Bishop of Rome, especially between his patriarchal ministry in the Church of the West and his primatial ministry of unity in the communion of Churches.” There have also been calls for “a greater accent on the exercise of the ministry of the Pope in his own particular Church, the diocese of Rome…”
“A third recommendation … concerns the development of synodality within the Catholic Church. In particular, “further reflection on the authority of national and regional Catholic bishops’ conferences, their relationship with the Synod of Bishops and with the Roman Curia” has been called for. “At the universal level” the dialogues “stress the need for a better involvement of the whole People of God in the synodal processes.”
A final proposal involves “the promotion of ‘conciliar fellowship’ through regular meetings among Church leaders at a worldwide level” and the promotion of “synodality between Churches … through regular consultations and common action and witness.”
It is a lengthy document and analysis has been trickling in. I read up until page 50, before skipping ahead to the proposals, which begins on page 116. In addition to the points summarized above, I agree with the proposal to clarify terms and definitions. Paragraph 7 on page 124 notes that “the documents do not always use terms such as ‘synodality/conciliarity’, ‘collegiality’, ‘primacy’, ‘authority’, ‘power’, ‘administration’, ‘government’, and ‘jurisdiction’ in an homogenous and consistent way.” The following paragraph notes that it is “necessary to clarify the meaning of the expression ‘universal Church,'” and that “the concepts of ‘levels’, ‘subsidiarity’, ‘autonomy’, and ‘decentralization’” are also misunderstood.
One particular point that I found interesting was its explanation in the fifth paragraph of Pope Francis’s emphasis on the title of “Bishop of Rome” and of relegating the other titles of the pope to “historical” in the Annuario Pontificio (papal yearbook), saying that this contributes “to a new image of the Petrine ministry.” On a personal level, I have long held that the only necessary title for the pope was “Bishop of Rome” (because the person in that office is by definition the Successor of Peter and everything else the Petrine office implies) so I found both the title of the document and this specific passage edifying.
There is a Catholic understanding of Petrine primacy that was taught definitively at the First Vatican Council that remains essential to our doctrine, and therefore the Church must work within that framework when developing the teaching. Throughout the document there are references to the Catholic dogmas on the papacy as a significant obstacle for other Christians. But the document also notes, “Theological reflection on primacy cannot relate only to the dogmatic differences of the past, but should also reflect on the present life of our Churches – their internal developments, challenges and relationships” (32).
Finally, the document makes clear that the role of the pope must become more clear in the years and decades ahead, as synodality becomes an increasingly visible constitutive element of our Church. In his famous speech to close the 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family, Pope Francis pointed to the role of the pope in the context of a synodal assembly: “I told you from the beginning of the Synod, it was necessary to live through all this with tranquility, and with interior peace, so that the Synod would take place cum Petro and sub Petro (with Peter and under Peter), and the presence of the Pope is the guarantee of it all.” Francis also spoke of the role of the pope with the other bishops in the same context: “the duty of the Pope is that of guaranteeing the unity of the Church; it is that of reminding the faithful of their duty to faithfully follow the Gospel of Christ; it is that of reminding the pastors that their first duty is to nourish the flock – to nourish the flock – that the Lord has entrusted to them, and to seek to welcome – with fatherly care and mercy, and without false fears – the lost sheep.”
The comprehensive analysis found in The Bishop of Rome, beyond its potential impact on ecumenical dialogue, will hopefully also help set a course for the Catholic Church as it grows in its understanding and practice of becoming truly synodal.
Image: “The Lateran Apse” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by Lawrence OP. The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran is the Catholic cathedral of the Diocese of Rome in the city of Rome, and serves as the seat of the bishop of Rome, the pope.
Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor of Where Peter Is. He and Jeannie Gaffigan co-host Field Hospital, a U.S. Catholic podcast.
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