"The Bishop of Rome: Primacy and synodality in ecumenical dialogues and responses to the encyclical Ut unum sint": This is the title of an ambitious “study document” published by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity on June 13, 2024.
It offers the first general summary since the Second Vatican Council on the sensitive subject of the place of the pope in the broader Christian world. The document is being published in preparation for the 30th anniversary of John Paul II’s encyclical on ecumenism, Ut unum sint, but also in view of the Synod on Synodality and the commemoration of the Council of Nicaea.
The 1,700th anniversary of that Council, which gave us the Nicene Creed, will be celebrated in 2025 by the Christian Churches. The Council took place well before the schism between East and West.
The 150-page document published by the Vatican body in charge of relations with other Churches and Christian communities provides an in-depth overview of reflections on the subject of papal primacy over the last few decades. It also includes some 30 responses from different Churches to John Paul II's encyclical Ut unum sint, and some 50 documents from ecumenical dialogue groups on the subject.
The text includes numerous references to various dialogue and study groups from across the world including from the US, the UK, and Canada. There is a list of the groups referenced at the end of the document.
Changing how the Churches see primacy
Father Hyacinthe Destivelle, official at the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, told I.MEDIA that ecumenical developments over the last few decades have been encouraging, tending towards recognizing the Bishop of Rome as a "servant of the communion of the Churches."
"A kind of consensus, a convergence is emerging on the need for primacy in the whole Church, whereas previously it was a very polemical, controversial issue. But now, in a globalized world, a consensus is emerging on the need for an incarnation, a voice that can speak on behalf of all," he adds.
"Unlike the polemics of the past, the question of primacy is no longer seen simply as a problem, but also as an opportunity for joint reflection on the nature of the Church and its mission in the world," explained Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery, at the press conference presenting the document at the Vatican on June 13.
Pontifical infallibility: a concept to be interpreted
However, the text does mention a number of stumbling blocks to Christian unity, including the dogma of papal infallibility, a product of the First Vatican Council, convened by Pope Pius IX in 1869-70.
"These dogmatic definitions have proved to be a significant obstacle for other Christians with regard to the papacy," the text says.
The Dicastery therefore invites readers to interpret the doctrine that emerged from the First Vatican Council in the light of the historical context of the late 19th century, during which, in reaction to political and ideological threats to the papacy, "the ultramontane movement promoted the leadership of the pope and the creation of a more centralized church modeled on contemporary political regimes of sovereignty."
The aim was to create "protection for the freedom of the Church" in the face of temporal powers, and to generate “a force for unity in the face of the modern world," says the text, citing an Italian dialogue group between Protestant and Catholic theologians.
New avenues for reflection
In view of the developments offered 90 years later by the Second Vatican Council, the document highlights "new avenues to reflect on how a ministry of unity might be exercised in a reconciled Church." At the press conference, Cardinal Koch recalled that Vatican II had put forward the principle of "episcopal collegiality,” thus bringing nuances to the principle of papal infallibility.
He did not rule out the publication of another document on an interpretation of this dogma.
Quoting Benedict XVI, Cardinal Koch also stressed that the first duty of every pope is "obedience to Christ," above and beyond any personal inclination.
The Orthodox Churches don't want to be absorbed into the Catholic Church
The document looks in detail at the obstacles that remain between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches.
"The Eastern Churches, while recognizing a primacy of honor that belongs to the Bishop of Rome, considered that this primacy was a matter of historical development," the text explains. The document cites how the Patriarchate of Moscow declared in 2013 that “primacy in honor accorded to the bishops of Rome is instituted not by God but men.”
"The Orthodox Churches, fearing being absorbed and losing the power to govern themselves, consider the relation between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the See of Rome as a measure of the ecumenical credibility of the Catholic Church. They do not recognize the present relationship of the Eastern Catholic Churches with Rome as a model for future communion," the text says. The method of “uniatism,” meaning the return of certain formerly Orthodox communities to be under the authority of Rome, is clearly presented as obsolete and no longer appropriate.
The text also echoes Pope Francis’ words at the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Patriarch Bartholomew at the Phanar, the seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, on November 30, 2014. The restoration of full communion "does not signify the submission of one to the other, or assimilation. Rather, it means welcoming all the gifts that God has given to each, thus demonstrating to the entire world the great mystery of salvation accomplished by Christ the Lord through the Holy Spirit," Pope Francis said at the time.
Searching for a new model of synodality
One of the main points of the document is the articulation between primacy and synodality, a tool that the Catholic Church is currently using to renew itself internally, before, perhaps, being able to live it out in its relations with other Churches.
For example, a group involved in the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue in Australia recognized that "the bishop of Rome has a special role to foster the unity of the church as the People of God and the Body of Christ." They explain that "in a reconciled church," one of the pope's central functions would be to convene and preside over synods, so that “the whole church may deliberate on the questions and challenges it faces and seek suitable pastoral responses."
The text points out that by proposing an "attractive model of synodality," the Catholic Church can gain credibility with other Churches and Christian communities, as in some of them synodality has not only a symbolic value but also jurisdictional. While leaving open the theological debate on the precise interpretation of the term synodality, which does not have exactly the same meaning in different local contexts, the document reiterates the importance of the Pope's symbolic gestures in favor of a synodal dynamic in relations with other Churches.
Some examples
Recent initiatives illustrate the promotion of an "external synodality," the document highlights, mentioning for example the joint visit to Lesbos in 2016 by Pope Francis, Patriarch Bartholomew, and Archbishop Ieronymos, to bear witness to their shared concern for the tragic situation of migrants.
Another example cited is the joint Lutheran-Catholic prayer that Pope Francis and the President of the Lutheran World Federation presided over in Sweden in 2016. Or also the ecumenical pilgrimage for peace in South Sudan in 2023 led by Pope Francis, Archbishop Justin Welby, and the Reverend Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church.
The pope is first and foremost the Bishop of Rome
Another essential angle of ecumenical reflection concerns the ministry of the bishop of Rome as such.
"There is also a need to distinguish the patriarchal and primatial roles of the Bishop of Rome from his political function as head of State. A greater accent on the exercise of the ministry of the pope in his own particular Church, the diocese of Rome, would highlight the episcopal ministry he shares with his brother bishops, and renew the image of the papacy," the document emphasizes.
The text recalls that Pope Francis mentioned his title of "Bishop of Rome" in his very first public words after his election in 2013, saying that "it was the duty of the Conclave to give Rome a Bishop," without mentioning his title of pope: A significant gesture to emphasize that the Petrine see is first and foremost that of an episcopate among others, in the perspective of an "ecclesiology of communion."
