Author: Leonardo De Chirico

The life of a reigning Pope is punctuated by several speeches to deliver on all kinds of occasions. Yet not all speeches have the same weight. Some are more important than others for a variety of reasons, including biographical ones. The speech that Benedict XVI addressed to the Plenary meeting of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on January 27^th belongs to a special type of event.

Founded as the Inquisition to fight against heresies and errors both inside and outside the Church, this institution was subsequently given the task to help the Pope to “strengthen the brothers” according to Luke 22:32, that is promoting RC orthodoxy and taking action against deviations from it.

In his long career at the service of the RC Church, Ratzinger was Prefect of the same Congregation from 1981 to his election to the papal office in 2005. For during the time throughout John Paul II’s reign, he has acted as the chief “enforcer” of the faith, as summarized by his biographer John L. Allen. So, this address to the members of the Congregation that he had lead for nearly 25 years was no ordinary task. For he knows very well both the structure, the people, and the issues that the Congregation is dealing with.

            The theme of this year’s Plenary meeting was ecumenism so Benedict XVI touched on some of the current ecumenical challenges for the RC Church.

1. What ecumenism is not

Before entering the analysis of present-day trends, Ratzinger says that the RC involvement in ecumenical affairs is to be “coherent” with regard to Vatican II and the “entire Tradition” of the Church. Ecumenism stems from what the RC Church believes in its dogmatic outlook, for it has no other theological framework than the traditional teachings. In light of this remark, the Pope argues that present-day ecumenism runs into two potential pitfalls: “false irenicism” and  “indifferentism”. The former lowers the contentious points for the sake of peace but at the expense of truth; the latter downplays truth and faith and elevates other criteria as primary driving reference points for unity.

The outcome of both “false irenicism” and “indifferentism” is that ecumenism becomes the attempt to draft a “social contract” whereby the parties involved negotiate patterns of relationship and common action. If this is the case, ecumenism deviates into a “praxis-ology”, i.e. a discourse exclusively revolved on practices aimed at creating a better world.

Although this is not the language of the Pope, one can say that unity runs the risk of becoming an idol, an absolute, a self-referential project that makes unity a means to its own ends. There is a tendency in ecumenical circles to become so passionate about unity to the point of forgetting that unity is not an isolated item in God’s plan for the church and the cosmos. Biblical unity is always qualified by truth even though it may lead to recognize lasting fundamental differences with other people. Here Ratzinger does not talk about Biblical unity. The unity he envisages is a kind of unity which is coherent with RC tradition which he defines as “the Divine truth that speaks to us through the Word of God”. In RC theology the Word of God is a very elastic and dynamic category including the written Bible, oral traditions, the magisterial teachings, and the living tradition of the Church. The Word of God is much more than Scripture alone. For Ratzinger, RC ecumenism is called to be coherent to the whole of this Biblical and extra-Biblical tradition.

The basic reference points between Evangelical and Roman Catholic views of unity are different, yet they find a convergence in being serious about questioning an ecumenism of “being nice” to one another and of “transforming the world together” (my expressions, not Ratzinger’s).

2. The Real, Central Issue

Beside expressing concerns about possible ecumenical pitfalls, Benedict XVI does not shy away from indicating what is the real issue in ecumenism today. Here it is important to be note that he is speaking to a Vatican institution whose task is to offer a theological service to the Church. So he is concentrating on the theological foundation of unity.

            “The crucial problem is the structure of Revelation – the relationship between Sacred Scripture, the living Tradition in the Holy Church and the Ministry of the Apostles’ successors as a witness to the true faith”. In a nutshell, the Pope provides a summary of the real ecumenical issue according to Roman Catholicism. It is the complex nexus between Revelation, Scripture, Tradition and the Church.

Revelation has its own “internal structure” which RC ecumenism should give voice to and preserve. Benedict summarizes it in a question form: “How does the truth of God come to us?”. The answer to this question contains the crux of ecumenism. The exegesis of this question should be the starting point and the guiding principle of any meaningful ecumenical dialogue. The issue is therefore ecclesiological, but it is much more than that. It goes directly to the heart of the RC vision touching on various fundamental doctrines all intertwined and organically connected.

            In some ecumenical circles, e.g. the Evangelicals and Catholics Together initiative, it is common to find people saying that Evangelicals and Catholics basically agree on the Triune God, Revelation, Salvation, and the moral Christian vision. What still divides them is the doctrine of the church. The tendency is to separate theologically the doctrines at stake as if they were unconnected pieces of a jig-saw. Here the Pope is saying something totally different. He is saying that ecclesiology depends on and is nurtured by a much wider theological vision. Ecclesiology is a reflection of Revelation which in turn is enacted in Scripture, in Tradition, and in the ministry of the Church. So ecclesiological differences are not merely ecclesiological but belong to the basic structure of the respective faiths.

            Interestingly, Ratzinger approvingly gives an example of a well pursued ecumenical dialogue according to RC principles. It is the recent provision for Anglo-Catholics who desire to be in full communion with the RC Church. There the “crucial problem” has been solved. Does he mean that other dialogues are intended to be stepping stones toward the same end?

Leonardo De Chirico

leonardo.dechirico@ifeditalia.org

Rome, 28^th January 2012

At the beginning of the new year, following the celebrations of Christmas and the Epiphany, the Pope meets the diplomatic body accredited to the Vatican and offers ambassadors from various countries his wishes for the new year as well as sketching a global road map that shows what is at stake in the world as far as the Vatican is concerned.

Not including its diplomatic relationships with international organizations, the Vatican has official relations with some 179 countries, second in number only to the United States of America. In 2011, agreements were reached with Malaysia and Azerbaijan, whereas those with Mozambique and Montenegro are still to be ratified. China and Saudi Arabia are the two major countries which still do not have diplomatic relations with the Vatican.

This is normal for a state entity. What is unique is the status of the Vatican, which combines both religious and political dimensions. Before turning to the Pope’s speech it is perhaps useful to put it in its institutional context.

1. Both Church and State

The Roman Catholic Church is the only church which is organically related to a sovereign state (i.e. the Vatican) with its own political, financial, juridical and diplomatic structure. It the only ecclesial body which deals with other states through the Vatican at a peer-level. When it signs agreements with a state in the form of a concordat, for instance, it does so according to the rules of international law as a sovereign country vis-à-vis another sovereign country. The Pope is both head of the church and head of state. When he visits a nation he is welcomed as if he were a king, not simply as archbishop or another ecclesiastical figure.

Though small and symbolic, the Church also has an army, like any other state. It cleverly plays with its double identity (ecclesial and political) which is the fruit of its long and complex history, but also an indication of its composite institutional nature: both church and state in one. Theology and politics are so intertwined in the system of the Catholic Church and in its activities that it is impossible to separate them.

Many Evangelical traditions are based on the principle of the separation between church and state and find it difficult to understand a church which is also a state and vice versa. Even those Evangelical traditions which are accustomed to a covenant-type of relationship between church and state still operate according to the principle that, theologically and institutionally, church and state are two very different entities. Not so for the Vatican, which is both. This uniqueness must be grasped in order to deal with RC issues at all.

2. From the Economic Crisis to Religious Freedom … with some Blind Spots

The speech of Benedict XVI surveys the global scene and the challenges the world is facing.

First, the Pope gives attention to the “global economic and financial crisis”. The ones who are most affected are the young. They are particularly in distress in North Africa and the Middle East. In this region the Pope explicitly mentions Syria, the Holy Land, and Iraq. The international community has to engage them in dialogue and aiming at reconciliation knowing that “the path of peace is at the same time the path of the young”. Education, family, and openness to life (i.e. pro-life behaviors) are the roads towards development for the younger generation. Although the Pope says that the crisis calls for “new rules which ensure that all can lead a dignified life and develop their abilities for the benefit of the community as a whole”, no remark here is made about the devastating distortions of the global economy and human responsibility in them.

The second pillar of Pope Benedict’s speech is religious freedom, “the first of human rights, for it expresses the most fundamental reality of the person”. After paying tribute to the murdered Pakistani Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pope speaks of Christians deprived of fundamental rights and sidelined in public life in too many places of the world. Religiously motivated terrorism has also reaped many victims, especially in Asia and in Africa. In other unnamed parts of the world (perhaps Europe and the West?), policies tend to marginalize the role of religion in society. No remark is made about China notwithstanding the fact that two RC bishops are in prison, perhaps out of diplomatic prudence towards a very delicate situation.

 

3. Italy as example?

In closing the speech, the Pope makes reference to the 150^th anniversary of the unity of Italy as a nation (1861-2011). In this respect, he hopes that “Italy will continue to foster a stable relationship between Church and State, and thus serve as an example to which other nations can look with respect and interest”. From an Italian and Evangelical perspective, it is at least curios that Italy should be taken as example of church-state relationships. While religious freedom is granted by the Italian Constitution, the RC Church has a uniquely privileged status which is far higher than other religious communities. This legal privilege gives rise to many economic, social, political, and media benefits which would be utterly unthinkable in many Western nations.

Does the Pope mean that the (totally unfair) privileges that the RC Church enjoy in Italy should be extended elsewhere and become a model for other countries? If this is what it appears to be, the opposite should be affirmed instead. Italy is still in need to learn what religious freedom means in an advanced sense, and one major obstacle to achieving this is exactly the Church-State settlement which the Pope advocates for in this speech.

The tone of the speech is at the same time both very “catholic” (i.e. global in scope) and very “roman” (i.e. attached to a very peculiar point of view).

 

 

Leonardo De Chirico

leonardo.dechirico@ifeditalia.org

 

Rome, 16^th January 2012

The end of the year and the beginning of the new one is a busy time for the Vatican. The Christmas celebrations entail the Pope’s media exposure and huge organizational efforts, coming to a climax with the Christmas Eve mass and the urbi et orbi  (i.e. “to the city and to the world”) benediction on Christmas day. Then on the first day of the year the Pope delivers a special message on the occasion of the World Day of Peace. In the RC Church calendar, January 1^st is also the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. This combination gives the Pope the opportunity to pray to Mary for the world and to commit the new year to her care and protection.

            This is standard Vatican activity for the season. However, in the midst of various public events and engagements, the first day of 2012 saw the promulgation of a special Vatican document with special reference to the former Anglicans wishing to be in full communion with Rome. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a decree which makes provisions for them to be fully accepted into the Roman fold.

1. From Canterbury to Rome

The movement of priests and lay-people from the Anglican Communion to the RC Church has a long history with varying intensities. Perhaps the most famous convert to Rome is cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) who was beatified by Benedict XVI during his visit to Great Britain in 2010.

Since its beginnings, the Anglican Church has had a significant Anglo-Catholic component which is inclined towards Catholic doctrines and practices. The via media (i.e. “middle way”) has been the tool utilized to allow groups of different orientations to maintain an Anglican identity notwithstanding the presence of various theological and liturgical streams within the Communion. What has been working for centuries is now under increasing stress. From the Eighties onward, in fact, the Anglo-Catholic uneasiness towards the ordination of women to the priesthood has pushed a growing number of them to ask to be accepted by Rome. For them this issue has become the breaking point from Anglicanism. The phenomenon has grown to significant proportions, thus encouraging the Vatican to take action to facilitate the transition.

  In 2009 Pope Ratzinger issued the document Anglicanorum coetibus (i.e. “groups of Anglicans”) that provides for the constitution of “personal ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic church”. In RC juridical language, ordinariates are bishopric-like entities that become part of the Conference of Bishops of a given country, while still maintaining certain specific features. In this case, the former Anglicans that are now Roman Catholics can celebrate the sacraments according “to the liturgical books proper to the Anglican tradition”.

Going back to what happened on January 1^st 2012, the first of these ordinariates was eventually erected in the USA in order to receive former North-American Episcopalians. It is called, by no accident, “The Chair of Saint Peter” as to underline the crucial importance of the central institution of the RC Church. Its see will be the church of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston (Texas) and its patroness will be the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Petrine and Marian faces of the RC Church are both symbolically and practically enforced. Every detail has a wide-ranging meaning and a specific purpose.

It is estimated that this ordinariate gathers 2,000 lay people and 67 priests.

2. Welcome, but …

What is the significance of this welcoming move by the Vatican? Many observers have been puzzled by what seems a double standard policy by the RC Church in her ecumenical relationships. On the one hand it puts the ecumenical efforts in “brotherly and sisterly” terms, thus appreciating the “gifts” of the various Christian communities. On the other it provides institutional room for accepting disillusioned ecumenical partners to become Roman Catholics. What is Rome doing? Embracing with one arm and subtracting with the other?

The Vatican may have faults in many areas of communication but not in this one. There is no hidden agenda in Vatican ecumenism. It is crystal clear that, according to the RC church, ecumenism does not mean maintaining the existing reality, nor merely accepting one another and being nice with one another. This may be the Protestant ambition with regard to Rome: each one remaining as it is and accepting the other as it is. Not so for Rome.

Every official text on ecumenism stresses the point that unity is threefold: professing the same faith, celebrating the same sacraments, being governed by the same bishops united with the Roman Pontiff (e.g. the Vatican II texts: Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium 13; 14; 21; 22; Decree Unitatis redintegratio 2; 3; 4; 15; 20; Decree Ad gentes 22). Since the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic church in a unique way, so that the Catholic Church is the only church that enjoys the threefold unity as a whole, more ecumenical unity means more Roman Catholic Church and therefore less other Christian communities. In this respect, the goal of ecumenism is the fuller achievement of the unity that the RC Church (and only the RC Church) already lives out.

Benedict XVI opens Anglicanorum coetibus with some telling words: “In recent times the Holy Spirit has moved groups of Anglicans to petition repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion individually as well as corporately”. Pope Ratzinger is saying that the Anglo-Catholic move towards Rome is a work of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that is the principle of unity which establishes the Church as a communion. Not the Anglican Communion – sorry …, but the Roman Catholic communion.

Leonardo De Chirico

leonardo.dechirico@ifeditalia.org

Rome, 7^th January 2012

“Ecumenism is like a flight”. This is the metaphor that Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, used in a public lecture given in Rome on the current state of world-wide ecumenism. Like any successful flight, so ecumenism is experiencing different phases: take off, cruising and landing. The take off stirs some adrenaline; cruising can be turbulent but provides ample possibilities to enjoy the panorama; landing at destination is always risky but, in this case, both vehicle and pilot are trustworthy. Here is what Cardinal Koch told about the flight of ecumenism.

 

Cruising the ecumenical movement

For the Roman Church, Vatican II (1962-1965) was the take off of the Catholic participation in the ecumenical movement. Expectations were high. Restoration of unity seemed at hand and the process was meant to be quick and immediate. But after take off, cruising can face unexpected and worrying times of turbulence. So the ecumenical season did not bloom from Spring to Summer, but regressed backward from Spring to Winter through a series of sunny and rainy days. Some results were realized, while major problems remain.

According to Vatican II and subsequent magisterial teaching, Christian unity is threefold: professing the same faith, celebrating the same Eucharist, and being united under the same sacramental ministry in apostolic succession. From the Vatican side, there is no unity apart from this threefold dimension. Unity is not a “pick-and-choose” affair, nor is it a vague sense of commonalities. Therefore, ecumenical unity with non-Catholic churches and communities is “real”, yet “imperfect” until it will reach its full scope.

 

Two schisms to reconcile

Koch reminded the meeting that RC ecumenism deals with the results of two “schisms”: that between the East and the West (since the XI century division between Rome and Constantinople) and that within the West itself (since the XVI century division between Rome and the Protestant Reformation).

The former is facilitated by the shared Eucharistic vision of unity and ecclesiastical structure (i.e. episcopacy in apostolic succession) but is hindered by significant differences in cultural patterns and historical developments. The latter is the other way around: facilitated by common cultural patterns (e.g. religious freedom, pluralism) and hindered by significant ecclesiological differences. The crux of the matter with Constantinople (and even more with Moscow) is the Eastern difficulty to recognize the Petrine ministry of the Pope in the full juridical form of its primacy. Cardinal Koch stressed the fact that Rome is working to allow Eastern Churches to recognize the role of the Pope as it was recognized up to the First Millennium prior to the schism. In other words, the Vatican is not pushing the Orthodox to adhere to the Papal office  as it is now, but as it was before 1054. If that happens, “perfect” unity can be achieved.

 

The Protestant complexity

The Protestant “schism” is much more difficult to overcome, says Koch. While the Eastern schism maintained the basic sacramental structures of the Church, the Reformation gave rise to a “new” type of church based on the Word rather than on the sacraments and a “new” ecclesiological paradigm based on communities rather than on the Roman succession of ordained ministry. For the Reformers, the Eucharist and episcopacy (i.e. two defining elements of unity) are no longer constitutive of the church but only subsidiary at best.

The RC problem with Protestants is not only institutional, i.e. having to deal with several, fragmented, divided Evangelical groups instead of having one Protestant church. The underlying and deeper problem is the defective Eucharistic and sacramental theology of Protestantism which nurtures a totally different vision of the nature of the church. Therefore, agreements can be found on basic Christian doctrines (e.g. Trinity, Christology, Bible), but they do not touch the sacramental level and therefore are not conclusive for the ecumenical process. Perhaps, Protestants do not even understand what RC sacramentality is all about, and why it matters (my comment, not Koch’s). The Cardinal gave an example: after the 1999 Joint Declaration on Justification, most Protestants expected full unity (e.g. mutual ministerial recognition and Eucharistic hospitality) to be at hand once the doctrinal division was solved. Not so for the Catholic partners. That statement clarified “aspects” of the doctrine, but did not revolve around the deeper sacramentality of it, i.e. what is the role of the Church in it. Remember that doctrine is only one pole of RC unity, not the only one, and never in isolation from the other two.

The lack of sacramental awareness pushes Protestants to understand unity as “mutual recognition”. In other words, for them reciprocity is the goal of ecumenism. But for Catholics unity entails a common faith, a common Eucharist, and a common ordained ministry. There can be no reciprocity until all three dimensions are involved. So, the RC Church expects her ecumenical partners to change accordingly. Going back to the flight metaphor, Cardinal Koch said that since the pilot is the Holy Spirit, unity in the RC sense will indeed happen.

 

“Doctrine divides, life unites”, or the other way around?

A further complication for RC ecumenism towards liberal Protestants has to do with the sharp divisions that exist on moral issues in church and society. The old dictum stated that “doctrine divides, life unites”, but this is no longer the case. Koch said that doctrinally speaking there has never been a higher degree of theological agreement in Catholic-Protestant relationships than today. Yet, on life issues the ditch is expanding. Pro-life versus pro-choice mirrors our present-day situation and Catholics and liberal Protestants stand on opposite sides. Yesterday, doctrine was felt to be the major obstacle to unity. Today, while doctrine is commonly held, common action in society is becoming a bigger ecumenical problem. The issue at stake is a different “Christian anthropology”.

 

New ecumenical partners

Cardinal Koch gave a picture of what he sees in flying over the ecumenical territory. The sky seems filled with clouds rather than sunshine. However, the ecumenical field shows that new partners are emerging. Historical Protestant churches are declining in numbers and consistency, whereas Evangelical and Pentecostal groups are growing. The latter have “strong convictions” about the Christian faith, often elaborated in an anti-Catholic fashion. Yet generally speaking they share with Catholics a similar moral vision . “We have just begun to get to know them and to talk to them”, Koch concluded.

So far, Evangelicals are an appendix of the RC mapping of the ecumenical scene. Yet they are on the radar and are subjects that generate RC curiosity and puzzlement: a mix of perplexity and intrigue.

 

 

Leonardo De Chirico

leonardo.dechirico@ifeditalia.org

 

Rome, 19^th December 2011

Africa has a central place on the Roman Catholic global map. Contrary to negative trends in the West, Africa is a continent where the RC Church is growing in terms of adherents and vocations to priesthood and religious life. In all its contradictions and in the midst of deep social problems, the “African religious soul” seems to be a fertile soil for the Church. It is not by chance that the RC Church has been increasingly reflecting on Africa over the last twenty years and is apparently investing much energy in trying to foster the RC presence there.

In 1994 John Paul II convened a Synod of bishops on Africa which was followed by the 1995 Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa (i.e. The Church in Africa). The then Pope brought together insights and proposals that would encourage the church’s engagement in the continent. His many trips to Africa testified the same concern. During Benedict XVI’s reign, another Synod of bishops was assembled in 2009. Then, as part of his recent visit to Benin (19^th November 2011), Pope Ratzinger signed the Post-Synodal Exhortation Africae Munus (i.e. Africa’s Commitment) which collects and comments upon different issues that were discussed in the Synod.

Africa’s two-fold face

The text is full of praises for the “exceptional ecclesial vitality” of the African church. The soul of Africa is “a spiritual lung for a humanity that appears to be in crisis of faith and hope” (n. 13). Unlike other parts of the world, religion matters in Africa and spirituality is daily bread for most of its peoples. The RC Church is being called to build on this religious sentiment as “Mother and Teacher” drawing upon several sources: “sacred Scripture, Tradition and the sacramental life” which are all combined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 95). In particular, the RC Church is being encouraged to keep on investing in education, protection of life (e.g. health care) and inculturation of the Gospel.

Yet the document does not hide the fact that Africa is also a place where an “anthropological crisis” is taking place with devastating consequences. The age-old foundations of social life are shaken by the allures of modernity. The outcomes of such a culture shock are producing trauma and conflicts everywhere. Benedict XVI therefore is calling the Church to be an agent of reconciliation, justice, and peace.

According to Pope Ratzinger, Africa presents a two-fold face: on the one hand it’s flourishing as far as the pervasive role of religion is concerned, on the other it’s worrying as far as the severe contradictions of its present-day situation are concerned.

A defective religious landscape

What is also interesting in the document is the mapping of the African religious landscape. Benedict XVI describes opportunities and challenges of interreligious dialogue, especially with traditional African religions and with Islam. In this respect, the Pope recalls the teaching of the Second Vatican Council that urged the RC Church “to enter with prudence and charity into discussion and collaboration with members of other religions” (n. 92).

            When it comes to surveying the ecumenical dialogue with non-Catholic Christians in Africa, Pope Ratzinger mentions the on-going relationships with the Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist communities (n. 89). These groups seem to be the “good” ecumenical partners of the RC Church.

Then, reference is made to “non-Catholic communities, sometimes known as African Independent Churches” that are “an offshoot of traditional Christian churches and ecclesial communities” (n. 90). We are told that they adopt various elements of traditional African cultures and that they are new in the ecumenical field. Are Evangelical churches in this group? We are not told. If yes, why not qualify them as Evangelicals, which is a widely accepted term? Why refer to them only as “independent” and not in a more theological and historical way? If not, then according to the Pope Evangelicals belong to the last group, i.e. different “syncretistic movements” generally rallied around a leader claiming exceptional gifts that exploits people’s credulity. They are based on “a variety of heterodox, non-Christian beliefs”.

In the Pope’s spectrum on Africa, Evangelicals are missing. In his perception there are the ecumenically minded Christians, the African independent churches, and various local cults. This is curious to say the least. For example, the Association of African Evangelicals (AAE) is part of the World Evangelical Alliance and represents more than 100 million African Evangelicals comprising 36 National Evangelical Fellowships that are made up of numerous local churches. They do not seem to be on the Vatican radar.

The Pope keeps on beating Evangelicals on their heads. In his 2007 visit to Brazil, he did not distinguish between Evangelicals and dangerous “cults” and called them a “sect”. In his September 2011 visit to Germany, he called them a new form of Christianity with little rationality and little dogmatic content. Now, in Africa he ignores them all together. Perhaps Benedict XVI has a problem with Evangelical Christianity.

Leonardo De Chirico

leonardo.dechirico@ifeditalia.org

Rome, 30^th November 2011

Images can turn the world and large portions of its population upside down. In 2005 a satirical vignette which pictured the prophet Mohammed having a bomb on his head instead of a turban caused outrage in the Muslim world. Millions of Muslims felt offended and thousands of them responded with street demonstrations around the globe. Protests went as far as bombing Danish embassies and pronouncing a fatwa against the cartoonist. An international controversy was aroused over free-speech rights, self-censorship and the respect of religious sensitivities. In the West the general orientation of public opinion perceived the Muslim reaction as grossly overstated and hitting one of the indispensable capstones of Western civilization. However it became clear that the final word could not be said on the issue. The power of images challenges a simple black and white approach. A new case will cause many to further reflect on it.

 

A Papal kiss to fight hatred?

On November 16^th, a huge banner was displayed on Castel Sant’Angelo’s bridge in Rome, right in front of Vatican City. The picture is very impacting and somewhat shocking. In it Pope Ratzinger is kissing an imam who happens to be Ahmed al-Tayyeb, imam of the mosque Al Ahzar in Cairo. The picture is part of an advertisement campaign by Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani on behalf of the fashion industry United Colors of Benetton, whose aim is to fight against the culture of hatred by promoting friendship amongst peoples, cultures and faiths. The campaign will also feature passionate kisses between President Obama and the Chinese President Hu Jintao, between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the French President Sarkozy, and between Israeli Prime minister Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Abu Mazen. But the religious kiss between the Pope and al-Tayyeb was meant to be the first and perhaps most shocking one of the series.

The Vatican has immediately expressed its indignation for violating the image of the pope, desecrating his dignity, and offending the religious sensitivity of millions of Roman Catholics around the world. The banner was immediately removed but copies of the picture went out around the world, soon becoming one the most clicked on photos of the day. The following day the Vatican announced that Benetton will be sued both nationally and internationally.

 

Freedom in the era of Photoshop

Controversies over the limits of freedom of expression will undoubtedly rise again. The Vatican has not only appealed against the attack on the individual image of the Pope, but also to the alleged and public scorn and disgust caused to the faithful who recognize the Pope as their leader. While the former criterion is more neatly identifiable, the latter is more difficult to define. It is certainly contrary to the Pope’s dignity to manipulate a picture in which he, a confessed celibate, is pictured as kissing another man, thus indicating a homosexual relationship. If he had agreed to its use, this would have given United Colors of Benetton the right to exploit it. Since this is not the case, it is clearly not right to grossly caricature a man for publicity and business purposes without consent. Moreover, since the picture is counterfeit in sensitive and significant ways, permission is even more necessary, so to speak.

The other argument by the Vatican appears to be weaker and potentially dangerous. In any given matter/situation (i.e. sports, religion, politics) one can always find someone who gets offended by the language used, opinions expressed, or the media employed. Is “offensiveness” a proper legal category that entitles someone to sue someone else? Homosexuals can be “offended” by the Evangelical preacher who publicly reads Romans 1. Secularists can be “offended” by someone speaking of “the creation of the world”. Evangelicals can be “offended” by the Pope referring to them as a cult. The list goes on and on. The legal protection of one’s own dignity is one thing, respecting the “feelings” and “emotions” of different people is another. The former can potentially become a legal case, the latter is better addressed in terms of appropriateness (or lack of it).

The world of Photoshop is a brave new world. Christian ethics must pave a way forward in these difficult, yet unavoidable issues.

 

Leonardo De Chirico

leonardo.dechirico@ifeditalia.org

 

Rome, 19^th November 2011

 

 

 

 

The Vatican is a global player in bioethical debates. Its magisterium has been addressing bioethical issues since the birth of this discipline in the Sixties. Encyclicals like Humanae Vitae (“[The Transmission of] Human Life”, 1968) dealt with contraception in the context of changing sexual habits; Veritatis Splendor (“The Splendor of Truth”, 1993) defended the teaching of the authority of the Church in an age of moral relativism; Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”, 1995) underlined the inviolability of human life in the context of thorny debates about abortion, euthanasia, and medical research involving human embryos.

From the institutional point of view, the Pontifical Academy for Life was established in 1994 as the Vatican department whose mission is defending and promoting the views of the Church in academic and public debates around the world.

Theologically and ethically, Roman Catholic bioethics has been majoring on categories like “nature” (understood rather philosophically and statically), “the sacredness of life” (verging towards the absoluteness of what is a created and transient gift), “person” (conceived in rather monolithic terms and not adequately distinguishing human biology and human biography). More than exploring and developing Biblically supported reasoning, Catholic bioethics has preferred locking itself in natural law and the finality of being.

If secular bioethics has elevated the “ego” as its idol (i.e. whatever the individual decides, that’s fine), Catholic bioethics has tended towards elevating the “bios” as its idol (i.e. the decisive point is wherever and whenever biological life is found). The complexity of life is therefore flattened in both approaches and the Biblical realism about life is left aside.

 

A New Phase of Bioethical Engagement

Catholic bioethics has become synonymous with ethical conservatism and frequently mocked in public debate dominated by secularist trends. It has always been defending something and has developed a defensive attitude. However, things may change.

A recent move by the Pontifical Council for Culture (another important Vatican department) calls for attention. For the first time ever, the Vatican has signed a contract with a US biotech company (NeoStem) to stir research on adult stem cells. NeoStem is working in the field of regenerative medicine in order to develop cell therapies for autoimmune disorders (e.g. diabetes), heart diseases, and orthopedic ailments. Regenerative medicine using adult stem cells does not destroy human embryos and is therefore ethically legitimate for those who are in the pro-life front.

The Vatican financial investment amounts to 1 million US dollars. Not a big deal, but not an insignificant figure either. An international conference at the Vatican on “Adult Stem Cells: Science and the Future of Man and Culture” (November, 9-11) hosted the launching of the joint-venture in the biotech industry and the new Vatican engagement in the bioethical arena. The great promises of the use of adult stem cells were highlighted as far as the reduction of human suffering is concerned as well as their full ethical viability. Participants were also granted an audience with Benedict XVI who delivered a speech reinforcing the morality of using adult stem cells over against the immorality of destroying embryo stem cells.

 

 

The Two-fold Strategy

The Vatican is well aware that the bioethical debate is very polarized. In the area of regenerative medicine, the embryo stem cells versus adult stem cells debate has taken a very ideological turn. It is more often a clash of opposing worldviews than an informed scientific and moral discussion.

So far the Vatican has tended to embody and support the conservative side of the debate offering philosophical and moral arguments against embryo destruction and for the use of adult stem cells on the basis of Catholic moral theology. The partnership with NeoStem amounts perhaps to a paradigm shift or at least to a broadening of scope. The regenerative medicine battle will not be won by arguments, principles, and values alone. Those who discover sustainable cures first will win the day. So the Vatican, in investing in the adult stem cells industry, shows its willingness to run the race by financing research on adult stem cells with the expectation that it will deliver what it promises before the embryo stem cells industry gets to it. First come, first served.

Of course the Vatican will continue to play its role in the battle by way of its traditional contribution, e.g. through encyclicals, documents, conferences, moral suasion, etc. It will keep on employing its philosophical and theological expertise in order to support its moral framework. It will continue to let its voice be heard through its institutions. Yet this is not enough. For a global player like the Vatican, the bioethical challenges of our day require a new two-fold strategy as a moral reference point and as a financial investor. The Vatican seems to have the know-how and the resources to do both.

Leonardo De Chirico

leonardo.dechirico@ifeditalia.org

 

Rome, 14^th November 2011

Motu proprio (i.e. “on his own impulse”) is a document that comes directly from the initiative of the Pope and which is binding for the Roman Catholic Church. Popes scarcely use motu proprio pronouncements and when they do, its utility underlines the importance of certain decisions they make. Benedict XVI has already employed it in making provisions for the Tridentine Mass to be celebrated everywhere there is a demand for it (2007) and in the prevention of illegal financial activities (2010). The first move was meant to meet the requests of traditionalists whereas the second one was intended to counter wrong practices in Vatican financial affairs. On 11^th October 2011, Pope Ratzinger issued another Motu proprio to announce a Year of Faith beginning on 11^th October 2012 and ending on 24^th November 2013.

A special Year … another one

Roman Catholicism has a unique ability to mark time: holy years (i.e. jubilee years), Marian years, Pauline years, years of faith, etc. all express the willingness to shape time with symbols, themes, events that evoke the “sacredness” of time. The same is true with regard to days, weeks, seasons, etc. The church calendar is stuffed in such a way that it reflects a pervasive worldview which traces time as church-focused and church-centered. In the last Motu proprio, Benedict XVI recalls his predecessor Paul VI who announced a Year of Faith in 1967 when severe criticism mounted against the traditionalist positions of the RC magisterium on sexual ethics. That Holy Year was meant to calm the nerves down and to call for more respectful relationships within the RC church. The coming Holy Year will have a threefold goal: remembering Vatican II, appreciating the Catechism and launching the New Evangelization. By looking backward to Vatican II, the Pope wants to lead forward to the New Evangelization by way of stressing the Church’s well established teaching. These themes will be echoed in the Pope’s catechesis and in special events that will take place during the year.

From Vatican II …

The Year of Faith will commence exactly 50 years after the opening of the Second Vatican Council. Anniversaries are very important for a historical institution like the RC Church. After half a century the interpretation of Vatican II is still disputed in RC circles. Benedict XVI has already stressed the need to apply a “proper” hermeneutic which underlines both the continuity and the discontinuity brought by Vatican II, striking a “catholic” balance between the two and actually showing the inner dynamics and stability of Rome. The two polarizing trends of reformist (left-wing) and traditionalist (right-wing) readings will be shown totally inadequate to come to terms with the legacy of the Council. “Reformation-in-continuity” will be the buzzword of the Year of Faith. However, will Benedict XVI be able to settle the dispute through the Year of Faith?

… through the Catechism of the Catholic Church …

The second event that the Year of Faith will celebrate is the 20^th anniversary of the publishing of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It was Cardinal Ratzinger himself who was behind the project as Prefect of the Congregation for Sacred Doctrine and it is Benedict XVI who is reinforcing its value. The Catechism was meant to provide a universal, comprehensive and authoritative tool for RC teaching.

The overlap of anniversaries between Vatican II and the Catechism is no coincidence. The Pope is saying that the Catechism is the “right” reception and application of Vatican II. All those who tend to pull Vatican II on their side should take the Catechism as the already given fidei depositum (i.e. the deposit of faith) for its right appreciation. There is no Vatican II without the Catechism. Joining together the 1962 and 1992 celebrations in the Year of Faith symbolizes the inherent reciprocity between the two.

… to the New Evangelization

Benedict XVI’s intention in announcing the Year of Faith is both backward and forward looking. At the beginning of the Year in 2012, the Pope has called a Synod of Bishops to discuss the New Evangelization, i.e. the project aimed at reaching the baptized who are far from the Church in order to call them back to the fold. In 2010 he set up a new Pontifical Council entirely devoted to this task and now is encouraging the whole body of bishops to embrace it as a world-wide agenda. The idea is that one of the mature fruits of Vatican II is the New Evangelization and that the theological resource for the New Evangelization is given by the Catechism. This is how the economy of RC tradition works: past events become present-day resources in order to foster the on-going agenda of the Church. The Year of Faith will show what it means for RC to be a living tradition.

Leonardo De Chirico

leonardo.dechirico@ifeditalia.org

Rome, 3^rd November 2011

At the beginning of 2011, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he was going to convene a world meeting in Assisi (Italy) to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of the 1986 day of prayer for peace, launched by his predecessor John Paul II. That event saw representatives of various faith communities gathering together to pray on their own, and also in joint prayer sessions. For many observers, both Evangelicals and more traditional Catholics, Assisi 1986 was a sign of unbiblical universalism and syncretism whereby people of different faith-communities prayed (whatever prayer may mean in an inter-religious context) together under the leadership of the Pope. Critics, many of whom are also in Roman Catholic circles, argued that it is one thing to join forces to promote peace in the world, but a completely different thing to join prayers in common multi-faith petition the way it was done in 1986.

 

Assisi 2011

After 25 years, Benedict XVI will again invite religious leaders to come to Assisi to pray for peace and justice. Actually, the new official heading of the event is “Day of reflection, dialogue and prayer,” and it will take place on 27^th October 2011. The variety of those who have confirmed their participation is impressive:

• 176 representatives of non-Christian religions (48 Muslims, 67 Buddhists, 7 Hindus, 5 Sikhs, 4 people of traditional African religions, etc.);
• 31 official delegations from Christian churches and communions (e.g. the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Anglican Communion, the World Council of Churches);
• Representatives of world Judaism;
• Several secular intellectuals;
• Diplomatic delegations (a constant reminder that the Vatican is also a sovereign state with official diplomatic relationships with all the other states of the world).

 

Ratzinger’s assertive influence is clearly visible in the title of the event. Following criticism that Assisi 1986 encouraged syncretism, the emphasis of the 2011 meeting will be more on common reflection and dialogue between people of different religions and cultures. Prayer only comes as the final marker of the event, but it still there.

The program does not entail a common, public prayer session, but each delegation will pray or reflect (there will also be agnostic participants!) in separate rooms in St. Francis’ convent according to their beliefs and traditions. Moreover, as already indicated, Benedict XVI wanted non-believers, both agnostic and atheist, to be part of the event, involving them in the search for truth and peace. Assisi 2011, therefore, will still be an inter-religious gathering, but the scope of the meeting is larger so as to include people of good will, but not necessarily religious ones. The theme is thus expanded and the audience enlarged.

The day will include sessions with brief speeches by different participants, concluded by a short pilgrimage across the streets of Assisi by the Pope himself. This will represent a final commitment to peace symbolized by the lightening of candles, and a time for meditation in front of St. Francis’s tomb. As for the other sessions, the program will be ended by the Pope who is the convener, host and primary actor of the day. Words, languages, gestures, acts and symbols reflect the richness of the Catholic way of conceiving and implementing inter-religious gatherings which retain the centrality of the RC institution.

 

Continuity, discontinuity or catholicity?

Will Assisi 2011 be different than its 1986 precedent? It is likely that the measures taken by Benedict XVI will avoid overtly syncretistic practices that characterized the first event. It is certain that many words will be used to explain that each participant retains his own religious identity so as to prevent any misunderstandings.

Yet the beatification of John Paul II (celebrated on 1^st May this year) will set the emotional context of the 2011 event, and major points of continuity between 1986 and 2011 will be stressed. The “spirit of Assisi”, with its “what unites us is bigger than what divides us” language, will prevail, especially for the media and public opinion. There will be little room for change in the way the event will be perceived by most people. The “spirit of Assisi” will be possibly confirmed as the only way forward as far as inter-religious relationships are concerned: i.e. setting aside differences, celebrating unity, searching for truth together, appreciating different perspectives on truth, welcoming each other as “brothers and sisters”. This appears to be the “message” of Assisi. Assisi 2011, therefore, will be both in continuity and discontinuity with Assisi 1986, but the overarching combination between 1986 and 2011 will be the expanded catholicity of Roman Catholicism: its ability to think and act globally while retaining its particularity, its ability to join people of all backgrounds without losing its profile, its ability to be center-stage in the relationship between religions and the modern world.

The goal of promoting peace and justice in the world is good and urgent. Yet is inter-religious prayer (in whatever form it takes place) a biblically viable option? Is the religious universalist bent the only way of dealing with different religious traditions? Is the Assisi-type event the best Biblically warranted way to foster peace and justice? The Roman Catholic Church can respond “yes” to all three questions. What about Evangelicals?

 

Leonardo De Chirico

leonardo.dechirico@ifeditalia.org

 

Rome, 19st October 2011