Posted on

94. A New Era Between Catholics and Evangelicals?

November 7th, 2014

Visiting the Pope has become something popular amongst Evangelical leaders around the world. Nearly every month there are Evangelicals from the four corners of the globe that are received by Francis either in private conversation, or around the table of a shared meal, or in the context of more official meetings. Pope Francis seems to have targeted Evangelicals of all stripes (from highly liturgical sectors of Protestantism to prosperity gospel gurus with all variances in between) in order to build bridges with these Christians who have traditionally stayed outside of mainstream ecumenical circles but who nonetheless represent the wing of the Church that is growing more than any other. This phenomenon of Evangelical leaders taking “selfies” with the Pope and then becoming prominent spokesmen of unity with the Roman Catholic Church needs to be examined more carefully.

Against the backdrop of this growing trend of Evangelical leaders visiting the Pope, the visit of the World Evangelical Alliance and its official delegation of representatives from all over the world on November 6th is perhaps the first time that such a vast delegation has been granted an audience by a Roman Pontiff. The significance and importance of this visit is attested to by the fact that the Pope’s address to the WEA delegation has been made public through the Vatican Press Bulletin which is its official outlet (http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2014/11/06/0823/01747.html).

United in Baptism?

The Pope began his address by referring to baptism as the grounds by which unity can be accomplished. After quoting Ephesians 4:13 on attaining to the unity of the truth, Francis went on to say that “this truth is grounded in our Baptism, by which we share in the fruits of Christ’s death and resurrection. Baptism is God’s priceless gift which we have in common”. Interestingly, this is a typical Roman Catholic statement. Whereas Evangelicals would tend to say that unity is grounded in God’s grace received through faith in Jesus Christ, the Pope spells out a different view. According to him it is the “sacrament of baptism”, an ecclesial sacrament, that is the basis for Christian unity. The standard Evangelical conviction is that all believers in Jesus Christ are already united (“We Believe in the Unity of the Spirit of all true believers”, says WEA’s Statement of Faith), but the Pope here presents a different perspective: it is those who are baptized that are united. A person baptized by the church may or may not be a believer as the phenomenon of Nominal Christianity clearly demonstrates, and yet the Pope and his Church think that baptism represents sufficient grounds for unity. A question must be raised at this point: are the Evangelical leaders who seem to be such big fans of the Pope aware of this?

That Christians are already united in baptism is a shared ecumenical conviction but it is not the historic Evangelical position. The Pope reinforced it when he spoke about “the profound unity brought about by grace in all the baptized” (then by quoting the Vatican II document Unitatis Redintegratio, 13). How can Christians be united by grace with those who are baptized but that do not profess and live out their faith in Jesus? The point is that when Evangelicals talk about unity with the Pope and the Pope talks to them about unity, they are using the same word but they mean different things.

No Mere Personal Relationship with Christ

The insistence on baptism as the grounds of unity is demonstrated in another comment made by Francis in his speech. Insisting on the pre-eminence of baptism over faith, the Pope said that “the Gospel is not merely about our personal relationship with God”. It is more than that. This language of having a “personal relationship with God” is dear to Evangelicals and is one of the defining marks of their spirituality. Pope Francis likes to use it too. However, the reference to the sacrament of baptism which is for him sufficient grounds for unity and that precedes a personal relationship with God puts this phrase into context. According to Francis, unity is based on baptism, not on personal relationship with Christ. Evangelicals also believe that the Christian life is more than having a personal relationship with Christ. Yet they believe that this is the foundation upon which the full Christian discipleship must be built. Regardless of which view of baptism they hold to, it is nonetheless personal faith that is central. For Francis, God’s grace comes to us not by faith alone but through the sacramental system administered by the Church. This is not merely a minor point of difference.

The speech included an appeal to enter a “new era of relations between Catholics and Evangelicals”. But if they still don’t agree on what is the basis of Christian unity and there is no indication of openness to change according to the Gospel, how can there be a “new era”?

Posted on

94. ¿Nueva Era entre católicos y evangélicos?

08 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2014
Visitar al Papa se ha convertido en algo muy popular entre los líderes evangélicos de todo el mundo. Casi todos los meses evangélicos procedentes de las cuatro esquinas del globo son recibidos por Francisco ya sea en una conversación privada, en torno a una mesa compartiendo una comida o en el contexto de reuniones más oficiales. El Papa Francisco parece haber dirigido su objetivo hacia los evangélicos de todas las tendencias (desde los sectores altamente litúrgicos del protestantismo a los gurús del evangelio de la prosperidad, con todas las variaciones que hay en medio) con el fin de construir puentes con estos cristianos que tradicionalmente han permanecido fuera de la corriente principal ecuménica pero que, no obstante, representan el ala de la Iglesia que crece más que cualquier otra. Este fenómeno de los líderes evangélicos haciéndose “selfies” con el Papa y después transformándose en portavoces prominentes de la unidad con la Iglesia Católico Romana necesita examinarse más detenidamente.
En el ambiente de esta tendencia creciente de líderes evangélicos visitando al Papa, la visita de la delegación oficial de la Alianza Evangélica Mundial (WEA por sus siglas en inglés) con representantes de todo el mundo, el día 6 de noviembre, constituye posiblemente la primera vez que ha sido concedida una audiencia a una delegación tan extensa por parte del Romano Pontífice. El significado y la importancia de esta recepción lo atestiguan el hecho de que la alocución del Papa a la delegación de la WEA se hizo pública a través del canal oficial del Boletín de Prensa del Vaticano, que es su medio oficial.
¿Unidos en el Bautismo?
El Papa empezó su discurso haciendo referencia al bautismo como uno de los terrenos en los cuales la unidad podría alcanzarse. Después de citar Efesios 4:13 como ejemplo para la consecución de la unidad de la verdad, Francisco continuó diciendo que “esta verdad se fundamenta en nuestro bautismo, por el que compartimos los frutos de la muerte y de la resurrección de Cristo. El bautismo es un don inestimable de Dios que tenemos en común”. Curiosamente, ésta es una afirmación típica católico romana. Mientras que los evangélicos tenderían a decir que la unidad se basa en la gracia de Dios recibida mediante la fe en Jesucristo, el Papa explica detalladamente un punto de vista diferente. Según su opinión, el “sacramento del bautismo”, un sacramento eclesial, es la base para la unidad de los cristianos.
La convicción estándar evangélica es que todos los que creen en Jesucristo ya están unidos (“Creemos en la Unidad del Espíritu de todos los creyentes verdaderos”, dice la Declaración de Fe de la WEA), pero el Papa presenta una perspectiva diferente: son aquellos que están bautizados los que están unidos. Una persona bautizada por la iglesia puede o no ser un creyente como demuestra claramente el fenómeno del Cristianismo Nominal y, a pesar de todo, el Papa y su Iglesia creen que el bautismo representa una razón suficiente para la unidad. En este punto debe plantearse una pregunta: ¿Son conscientes de esto los líderes evangélicos que parecen ser tan entusiastas fans del Papa? Que los cristianos ya están unidos por el bautismo es una convicción ecuménica compartida, pero no es la posición evangélica histórica. El Papa la reforzó cuando habló sobre “la profunda unidad producida por la gracia en todos los bautizados” (citando el documento del Vaticano II Unitatis Redintegratio, 13). ¿Cómo pueden los cristianos estar unidos por la gracia con los que están bautizados pero que no profesan ni viven su fe en Jesús? La cuestión es que cuando los evangélicos hablan sobre la unidad con el Papa y el Papa habla con ellos sobre la unidad, todos usan la misma palabra pero en realidad quieren decir cosas diferentes.
No es una Mera Relación Personal con Cristo
La insistencia en el bautismo como la base de la unidad se demuestra en otro comentario que hizo Francisco en su disertación. En su reiteración en la preeminencia del bautismo sobre la fe, el Papa dijo que “el Evangelio no es meramente acerca de nuestra relación personal con Dios”. Es más que esto. Este lenguaje de tener una “relación personal con Dios” es apreciado por los evangélicos y es una de las marcas definitorias de su espiritualidad. Al Papa Francisco también le gusta utilizarlo. No obstante, la referencia al sacramento del bautismo que para él es una base suficiente para la unidad y que precede a una relación personal con Dios pone esta frase en su contexto. Según Francisco, la unidad se funda en el bautismo, no en la relación personal con Cristo. Los evangélicos también entienden que la vida cristiana es más que tener una relación personal con Cristo, aunque creen que éste es el fundamento sobre el cual debe construirse el completo discipulado cristiano. Independientemente de la visión que posean sobre el bautismo, es en todo caso, la fe personal lo que es central.
Para Francisco la gracia nos es dada no por la sola fe sino por medio del sistema sacramental administrado por la Iglesia. Esto no es meramente un aspecto menor de la diferencia. El discurso incluía un llamamiento para entrar en una “nueva era de relaciones entre los católicos y los evangélicos”. Sin embargo, si todavía no están de acuerdo en lo que consiste la base de la unidad de los cristianos y no hay ninguna indicación de apertura al cambio según el Evangelio, ¿cómo puede haber una “nueva era”?
Posted on

92. Pablo VI, un beato para tranquilizar a los conservadores perplejos

01 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2014
La Iglesia Católico Romana tiene otro beato, o un bienaventurado, a quien la Iglesia le reconoce la capacidad de interceder a favor de las gentes que oran en su nombre. El pasado 19 de octubre el Papa Francisco beatificó a Giovanni Battista Montini (1897-1978), que llegó a ser Pablo VI (1963-1978). Un intelectual sofisticado y reservado, bien versado en literatura francesa moderna y teología, Montini se convirtió en Papa durante el Concilio Vaticano Segundo y se le encomendó la difícil tarea de finalizar el Concilio y gestionar los turbulentos años que siguieron al mismo. Pablo VI tuvo que luchar con el “espíritu” del Concilio que para muchas personas, dentro y fuera de la Iglesia, significaba la adaptación a los cambios radicales que tuvieron lugar en la sociedad occidental durante los años sesenta. Sin ser un líder natural, Montini encarnó el drama de una iglesia que sólo había alcanzado el mundo con sus palabras optimistas de apreciación pero que también se retiraba hacia unas actitudes más cautelosas.
El Momento de la Beatificación
La beatificación de Pablo VI llega al final de un Sínodo que debatió la posibilidad de un reposicionamiento de la Iglesia Católica en los asuntos concernientes a la familia. Esta reunión de obispos discutió abiertamente la readmisión de personas divorciadas en la Eucaristía, así como también un acercamiento más positivo a las nuevas formas de familia, p.e. las uniones civiles y las relaciones homosexuales. No se tomó ninguna decisión final, pero el hecho de que se previesen e incluso se defendieran ciertos cambios por parte de algunas voces progresistas hizo que los intransigentes tradicionales teman ahora que un cambio de paradigma importante esté a punto de ocurrir. El Papa Francisco convocó el Sínodo y parecía que aprobaba estos cambios, insistiendo siempre en que la Iglesia necesita tener la mente abierta. Si bien, al mismo tiempo, no quería dar la impresión de estar completamente al lado de los que deseaban volver a discutir la valoración moral católica de las diferentes relaciones humanas.
En este punto la beatificación de Pablo VI salta a la palestra. En los círculos católicos siempre se ha representado a Pablo VI como el Papa que, con su Encíclica Humanae Vitae de 1968, se oponía a los métodos anticonceptivos y se consolidaba en la moral católica tradicional en medio de la “revolución sexual”. Es factible que Francisco supiera que el Sínodo podía abrir nuevos caminos hacia el entendimiento católico de la familia y que los conservadores se perturbaran por estos cambios. Sin embargo, quería que Pablo VI fuera beatificado al final del Sínodo para enviar el mensaje que, por una parte la Iglesia Católica puede actualizar su visión y, por la otra, honrar sus tradiciones. Es tanto una realidad viva como tradicional. Por consiguiente, el momento de la beatificación demuestra la habilidad de una institución que es tradicional sin llegar a ser tradicionalista o, por decirlo de otra manera, hace los cambios sin perder su herencia. La beatificación ha sido un mensaje tranquilizador a esta sección de la circunscripción católica que se sintió desconcertada y perpleja con el resultado del Sínodo.
El Pacto de Lausana y el Evangelii Nuntiandi
Pablo VI debería ser también recordado por un interesante paralelismo de algo que sucedió en el Movimiento Evangélico durante su pontificado. En 1974, como resultado del Congreso Internacional de Evangelización Mundial convocado por Billy Graham y organizado por John Stott, el Pacto de Lausana llamó a la iglesia a implicarse en la evangelización del mundo con el Evangelio bíblico. Hasta entonces la palabra “evangelización” y el vocabulario asociado a la misma se habían tratado con suspicacia en los círculos católico romanos debido a la utilización y a las connotaciones “protestantes”. La misión y la catequesis eran más tradicionales y fueron los términos preferidos por mucho tiempo. Es solamente después del Vaticano II que el lenguaje de la evangelización empezó a usarse.
Fue en realidad Pablo VI con su Exhortación Apostólica de 1975 Evangelii Nuntiandi, quien ayudó a la Iglesia Católica a aceptar y utilizar la palabra “evangelización”, dándole una connotación católica. Es interesante resaltar que fue después de Lausana cuando la Iglesia Católica comprendió la importancia del vocablo para su misión. Al resistirse a la relajación de la moral católica, Pablo VI captó la necesidad que tenía la Iglesia de explorar la importancia de la evangelización. Ahora el Papa Francisco habla más de la “misión” que de la “evangelización” y quiere que la Iglesia sea “una casa abierta” a todos los seres humanos, dejando a un lado las preocupaciones que desgastaron completamente a Pablo VI.
Posted on

93. Who Are We to Judge? The Synod on the New Forms of the Family

October 31st, 2014

“Whom am I to judge?” answered Pope Francis to a question on homosexuals. Who are we to judge? … seems to be the sequel of his answer by the Synod that met in mid October to discuss various critical issues about the family and the Church’s responsibility in addressing them. We are perhaps dealing with a significant development in the Roman Catholic Church, something along the line of the “aggiornamento” (i.e. update of attitudes and approaches) that took place at Vatican II and after. The pre-Synod debate chiefly concentrated on the possibility to re-admit to the Eucharist those who went through a divorce. Given the fact that, according to Roman Catholic teaching, marriage is a once and for all sacrament administered by the Church, should those who have broken marriages be given the sacrament of the Eucharist or not? The debate was polarized between progressive voices (like Cardinal Walter Kasper, for example) who favored a relaxation of the prohibition and conservative ones (like the North-American Cardinals) who opposed it. No final decision has been made yet. Next year’s second session of the Synod will make it and ultimately the Pope will promulgate it. There are tensions within the Catholic Church but the majority seems to have taken a line marked by openness towards change, not only as far as the re-admission to the Eucharist is concerned, but also towards re-positioning the Catholic Church in the much bigger discussion about the different forms of human relationships.

The Law of Graduality

The report drafted after the initial discussion (Relatio post disceptationem) contains some revolutionary statements and some significant silences. It highlights the positive value of each relationship, considered as always a good thing in itself. The Church wants to speak a word of hope to each relationship but the document refrains from passing over moral judgments on the kind of relationship that is envisaged. The report appeals to the “law of graduality”, i.e. each form of relationship is an imperfect form of good that needs to be encouraged to flourish. No distinction is made between heterosexual marriage and homosexual relationship, co-habitation and unions of various kinds. The good of a relationship is always in a “gradual” form and no relationship is totally deprived of it. Therefore, while recognizing standing and unresolved moral issues, positive words are used to describe homosexual relationships and non-married unions. This is the first time that something similar happens in a semi-official Vatican document.

The “law of graduality” allows to recognize the positive elements that exist in every situation, even in those that the Church has traditionally defined as sinful. Stress is put on “imperfect forms of good” that are present everywhere. Traditional Roman Catholic teaching has often underlined the “objective” nature of sinful acts (e.g. the adulterous and the homosexual intercourses), but the document leaves aside any reference to a black-and-white moral picture when it comes to assessing the present-day forms of relationship. Each relationship has different shades of good and this is the point the Church wants now to focus on. It is true that the final report (Relatio Synodi) moderates some of these statements and puts them more clearly in the context of the traditional teaching of the Church. The point is that the principle of the Roman catholicity (i.e. the development and widening of catholic synthesis) has been working here. A more extreme position is after mitigated and then one year is taken for the debate to go on until the final decision will come. Having said that, Pope Francis’ question “Who am I to judge?” has become the question of the majority of the Synod. It is now clear that the Pope’s “merciful” attitude has gained attention and has become wide-spread amongst the Catholic hierarchy.

The Vatican II Paradigm

Where does this feasible but not-yet official change come from? Some observers might argue that it is a capitulation to the spirit of the age that blurs any moral distinctiveness and elevates individual choices as the paramount criterion of what is good. Though there may be some truth in it this analysis is nonetheless incomplete. It was the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) that provided the tools that the Synod is now applying to the issue of sexuality and the family. Let’s see what happened then and how it impacts today’s discussion.

Before Vatican II, all non-Catholics were thought of as being heretics, schismatics or pagans. You were either in the Church or outside and against it. The Council introduced a new way of looking at non-Catholic people. While the Catholic Church retained its conviction to have access to the full sacramental salvation, other believers were considered as revolving around it depending on the distance or nearness to the center. The other religions reflected different degrees of truth and blessing and were seen in a fundamental positive way. The point is that each religion contained elements of truth that needed to be appreciated and that formed the basis for a re-discovered universal brotherhood. Vatican II abandoned the clear-cut in/out approach to embrace the principle of graduality: instead of denouncing the others’ errors, each religion became to be seen as having some good in it.

The same model is now applied to the different relationships. There is some good in a homosexual relationship although it remains distant from the ideal relationship. There is some good in a co-habitation outside of marriage although it is still irregular. There is some good in any loving relationship. It may be weak, defective, and even contradictory, but the Church wants to speak a word of understanding and hope for all. Although Pope Francis has not yet made this position official, everything that he has been saying and doing so far points to this direction. After his “Who am I to judge?”, the majority in the Synod is saying “Who are we to judge?”

Posted on

92. Paul VI, A Beatus to Reassure the Perplexed Conservatives

October 24th, 2014

The Roman Catholic Church has another beatus, or blessed one, whom the Church recognizes as having the capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name. On October 19th Pope Francis beatified Giovanni Battista Montini (1897-1978) who became Paul VI (1963-1978). A reserved and sophisticated intellectual, well versed in modern French literature and theology, Montini became Pope during the Second Vatican Council and was given the difficult task of concluding the Council and handling the turbulent years that followed. Paul VI had to wrestle with the “spirit” of the Council that for many inside and outside the Church meant an adaptation to the radical changes that Western society was going through during the Sixties. Not a natural leader, Montini embodied the drama of a Church that had just reached out to the world with its optimistic words of appreciation but had to also retreat to more cautious attitudes.

The Timing of the Beatification

Paul VI’s beatification comes at the end of a Synod that discussed the possibility of a re-positioning of the Catholic Church on matters concerning the family. This gathering of bishops openly debated the re-admission of divorced people to the Eucharist as well as a more positive approach towards new forms of family, e.g. civil unions and homosexual relationships. No final decision was made, but the fact that certain changes were envisaged and even advocated for by some progressive voices made traditional hardliners fear that a significant paradigm shift is about to occur. Pope Francis called the Synod and appeared to welcome these changes, always insisting that the Church needs to be open-minded. At the same time, though, he did not want to give the impression of entirely siding with those who want to re-discuss the Catholic moral assessment of different human relationships.

At this point the beatification of Paul VI comes to the fore. In Catholic circles Paul VI is always portrayed as the Pope who with his 1968 Encyclical Humanae Vitae opposed contraceptive methods and sticked to traditional Catholic morality in the midst of the “sexual revolution”. It is feasible that Francis knew that the Synod could have broken new ground in the Catholic understanding of the family and that conservatives would have been upset by these changes. Yet he wanted Paul VI to be beatified at the end of the Synod to send the message that, on the one hand the Catholic Church can update its vision and, on the other, honor its traditions. It is both a living and a traditional reality. Therefore the timing of the beatification demonstrates the cleverness of an institution that is traditional without becoming traditionalist or, to put it differently, that changes without losing its heritage. The beatification was a reassuring message to that section of the Catholic constituency that felt puzzled and perplexed with the outcome of the Synod.

The Lausanne Covenant and Evangelii Nuntiandi

Paul VI should also be remembered for an interesting parallel to what was happening in the Evangelical Movement during his pontificate. In 1974, as a result of the Congress on World Evangelization convened by Billy Graham and shaped by John Stott, the Lausanne Covenant called the church to be engaged in evangelizing the world with the biblical gospel. Up to that point the word “evangelization” and the vocabulary associated with it had been treated with suspicion in Roman Catholic circles due to its “protestant” usage and overtones. Mission and catechesis were more traditional and were the preferred terms for a long time.

It is only after Vatican II that the language of evangelization began to be used. It was actually Paul VI with his 1975 Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi that helped the Catholic Church to accept and use the word “evangelization” giving it a Catholic connotation. It is interesting that it was after Lausanne that the Catholic Church understood the importance of the term for its mission. While resisting the relaxation of Catholic morality, Paul VI caught the need for the Church to explore the significance of evangelization. Now Pope Francis speaks more about “mission” than “evangelization” and wants the Church to be “an open house” for all human beings, leaving aside the concerns that completely wore out Paul VI.