QUESTION: What’s the right role of the Bishop of Rome and the Papal primacy? Is the Papal primacy a service, exercised in a synodal manner? Does the New Vatican document entitled ‘The Bishop of Rome’ seek a path to unity with other Christian Churches? – Cris Johnson

AMSWER: Jacob Parappally MSFS

From the New Testament, it is clear that Jesus founded the community of his disciples to be both the reality and the symbol of unity and communion till the end of the world and till the end of time. He promised his everlasting presence in the community. God the Father and the Son or God the Father through the Son sent the Holy Spirit to continue the mission of the Son in the Church. The high priestly prayer of Jesus (John 17) emphasizes the need for unity among his disciples so that they can be credible witnesses to unity among them and be agents of communion among all people for the glory of the God of Communion.

Jesus’ intercessory prayer for unity among his disciples till the end of time already indicates that he had already foreseen the possibility of divisions among them. It is also possible that John the Evangelist echoes the divisions already existing in the early Church when the Johannine gospel was composed. The high-priestly prayer of Jesus was the theme of the encyclical Ut unum sint (That they may be one) by Pope John Paul II in 1995. This encyclical, which was based on the Decree on Ecumenism of the Vatican II was a landmark document in the history of ecumenism as it recaptured the ecclesiological vision of the Vatican II attempting to redefine and re-interpret the primacy of the bishop of Rome over the entire Church. It appears to have turned upside down the theological position of the Petrine office held in the Catholic Church since the first Vatican Council and created a roadblock for ecumenism.

The document was published by the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity (DPCU) on 13 June 2024. The Bishop of Rome, Primacy and Synodality in the Ecumenical Dialogues and in the Responses to the Encyclical Ut unum sint, is a study document on the ecumenical development in the recent past. At the conclusion of this document there is a list of proposals made by the Plenary Assembly of the Discastery held in 2021. The theme of this plenary assembly was “Towards an Exercise of Primacy in the 21st Century”. The suggestions are a synthesis of those ideas that emerged from various dialogues and responses to the renewed understanding and exercise of the ministry of unity by the Bishop of Rome.

The Primacy and the Role of the Bishop of Rome

It is relevant to note that Emmanuel Clapsis, a renowned Orthodox theologian and once a moderator of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and committed to ecumenism, summarizes the Catholic understanding of the source of papal primacy. He says, “Roman Catholic doctrine maintains that the universal primacy of the bishop of Rome was divinely instituted by Jesus Christ. This was derived from the Petrine texts, and from the gospel accounts of Matthew (16:17 19), Luke (22:32) and John (21:15 17) according to the Roman tradition, they all refer not simply to the historical Peter, but to his successors to the end of time. Today, scriptural scholars of all traditions agree that we can discern in the New Testament an early tradition that attributes a special position to Peter among Christ’s twelve apostles. The Church built its identity on them as witnesses, and responsibility for pastoral leadership was not restricted to Peter.[11] In Matthew 16:19, Peter is explicitly commissioned to “bind and loose”; later, in Matthew 18:18, Christ directly promises all the disciples that they will do the same. Similarly, the foundation upon which the Church is built is related to Peter in Matthew 16:16, and to the whole apostolic body elsewhere in the New Testament (cf. Eph. 2:10)”. Fathers of the Church, like Ignatius of Antioch and Irenaeus, attested to the primacy of the bishop of Rome in preserving the unity of faith and of the faithful, a duty entrusted by Jesus to Peter and his successors till the end of time.

“The only synodal way possible for
communion among the Churches is the
mutual recognition of the autonomy
of the Churches and the acceptance
of the Bishop of Rome as the first among the
equals and the symbol of the unity
of the entire Church.”

Almost a century before Vatican II, in 1868, the First Vatican Council defined clearly the papal primacy of jurisdiction and papal infallibility. Those Churches outside the communion with the Church in Rome did not accept the Catholic affirmations about the role of the Bishop of Rome. The Vatican II decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis redeintegratio) recognizes that both Christians in the East and the West “each followed their separate ways though linked in a brotherly union of faith and sacramental life.” In the first millennium, when there were disagreements over matters of faith or discipline, “the Roman See by common consent acted as guide”. In the second millennium, the Eastern and the Western Christians went in their own ways, especially after the great schism in 1054 AD. A further division of the Western Church took place in the 16th century due to the Protestant Reformation. In spite of these divisions, there was a general conviction among Christians that the Bishop of Rome exercised the ministry of unity, or at least the Catholics were convinced of it. The Vatican II emphasized episcopal collegiality and papal primacy. The pope is the first among the equals.

The impetus given by the Catholic Church’s commitment to ecumenism as articulated by the Decree on Ecumenism in the Second Vatican Council was further discussed in the meetings of Catholics and other Christians. These theological dialogues continued and the responses of the other Churches to the initiative of the Catholic Church for ecumenism was positive. The encyclical Ut unum sint by Pope John Paul II written about 30 years after the Vatican II expressed the hope that “we may seek—together, of course—the forms in which this ministry may accomplish a service of love recognized by all concerned.” The present document, The Bishop of Rome states that “the understanding and exercise of the ministry of the Bishop of Rome has entered a new phase” and the papal primacy is discussed in “a new and positive ecumenical spirit”. The document affirms that this “new climate is indicative of the good relations established between Christian communions, and especially between leaders”.

What about the theological questions, particularly the Catholic Church’s affirmation of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome? In the second part of the document, we find a reasonable, conciliatory and at the same time theological approach to the understanding of papal primacy in relation to ecumenism. The Petrine texts were the basis of understanding the role of Apostle Peter in the Church and the Catholic Church’s understanding of the successors of Peter as the bishop of Rome. The Vatican I after defining the papal primacy includes in its anathema the following which shows the role of the bishop of Rome traditionally understood by the Catholic Church. It said, “We teach and declare that, according to the gospel evidence, a primacy of jurisdiction over the whole Church of God was immediately and directly promised to the blessed apostle Peter and conferred on him by Christ the lord.” (Vat I, Session 4, 18 July, 1870). The anathema concerning this declaration makes clear the meaning of the primacy and the role of the bishop of Rome. It says, : “if anyone says that the Roman pontiff has merely an office of supervision and guidance, and not the full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole church, and this not only in matters of faith and morals, but also in those which concern the discipline and government of the church dispersed throughout the whole world; or that he has only the principal part, but not the absolute fullness, of this supreme power; or that this power of his is not ordinary and immediate both overall and each of the churches and overall and each of the pastors and faithful”(Vat I, Session 4). The present document has a different approach to the vision of Vatican I concerning the primacy and the role of the bishop of Rome.

The title of the second part of the document reveals that it deals with “The main theological questions traditionally challenging papal primacy, and some significant advances in contemporary ecumenical reflection.” The document is open to a “renewed reading of the “Petrine texts” in the New Testament. The documents says that “On the basis of contemporary exegesis and patristic research, new insights and mutual enrichment have been achieved, challenging some traditional confessional interpretations”. The text welcomes what it calls “a renewed reading” of the classic “Petrine texts,” which set out the Apostle Peter’s role in the Church. Further, the document “emphasizes the importance of interpreting the dogmatic statements of Vatican I not in isolation, but in the light of their historical context, of their intention and of their reception — especially through the teaching of Vatican II.”

According to the Catholic teaching the primacy of the bishop of Rome was established by divine law (de iure divino), “while most other Christians understand it as being instituted merely de iure humano (by human law)”? According to the document, “this traditional dichotomy, by considering primacy as both de iure divino and de iure humano, that is, being part of God’s will for the Church and mediated through human history” can be overcome with the help of the new interpretations of this theological issue. The document says that there has been “promising progress” in understanding the teachings of Vatican I that stand as an obstacle for ecumenism by ecumenical dialogue seeking “a re-reading” or a “re-reception” of the Council’s decrees. This approach is expressed in the practical suggestions for the renewed exercise of the ministry of unity in which we find the possibility of “a Catholic ‘reception’, ‘re-interpretation’, ‘official interpretation’ ‘updated commentary’ or even ‘a rewording’ of the teachings of Vatican I. Referring to this point Cardinal Kurt Koch, the President of the Dicastery for Christian Unity, in an interview on June 13, 2024, said that the ecumenical partners are encouraging the Catholic Church to “seek new expressions and vocabulary faithful to the original intention, integrating them into an ecclesiology of communion and adapting them to the current cultural and ecumenical context.” Based on the ecumenical dialogue since Vatican II there is a lot of optimism with regard to the universal acceptance of the primacy and role of the bishop of Rome as the symbol of the unity of the entire Church transcending the denominational differences of doctrines, ecclesiastical strictures, laws and discipline specific to each sister churches.

Exercise of the Petrine Ministry in a Synodal Way

The Synod called by Pope Francis with the theme, “Communion, Participation, Mission” introduces a shift in the traditional understanding of the synod as a meeting of a consultative body of the bishops based on their being as members of the hierarchy to a consultative body of the entire Church based on the common priesthood of all the people of God. The synod’s call for communion though directly addressed to the Catholics to live and exemplify it, embraces all Christians whatever be their ecclesial affiliations and indeed it includes all humans of good will. In this sense, the Petrine ministry of the bishop of Rome is to be viewed as the authority to serve the community, both locally and universally. Both the bishop of Rome and other bishops exercise their authority not to dominate and control people but to serve the people of God. The servant-leadership of Jesus needs to find expression in all leaders of the Church, especially in the exercise of the office of the bishop of Rome. As pontiff or bridge-builder, in the service of communion, he is bound to make efforts to unite all Christians.

Within the Petrine office, the Bishop of Rome has different roles. He is the diocesan Bishop of Rome who according to Irenaeus, “presides over the churches in charity”, He has the universal responsibility of confirming the faith and serving as sign of unity among the churches. This is his primatial ministry. He is also the Patriarch of the West. It is not easy to harmonize the Petrine ministry with synodality because historically the leadership roles in the Church were understood and exercised as a hierarchy of power rather than a hierarchy of self-emptying service. What Jesus feared about the leadership role of his disciples and warned against it (Matthew 20:25f) happened in history. The leadership style of the disciples in the community was not supposed to be like that of the Gentiles! The leaders of the Gentiles ‘lord’ it over the people and that should not happen among the disciples of Jesus. Their leadership style is to be that of Jesus, namely, servant leadership. Synodal style of leadership to build communion among all Christians and all humans of good will is possible only if the leaders of the Church starting from the Pope adopt the servant-leadership style of Jesus. Pope Francis tries to actualize this type of leadership both in the Catholic Church and in relation to other sister Churches to promote unity and communion.

The Petrine office includes the primatial ministry of confirming the faith and serving as a sign of unity among the churches. This duty can be accomplished only in a synodal way. But it needs a re-thinking about the decree that the Pope has juridical power over entire Church. Vatican I says, “We teach and declare that, according to the gospel evidence, a primacy of jurisdiction over the whole church of God was immediately and directly promised to the blessed apostle Peter and conferred on him by Christ the Lord”. If by the expression ‘the primacy of jurisdiction over the whole church” meaning that the jurisdictional power is only over the entire Catholic Church, it is understandable. But if it includes all the churches of the world, it would create insurmountable difficulties for ecumenism as well as for the synodal way of communion. It is wishful thinking, if some people dream that all Orthodox and other non-Catholic Eastern Churches can be brought under a Discastery of the Vatican. The only synodal way possible for communion among the Churches is the mutual recognition of the autonomy of the Churches and the acceptance of the Bishop of Rome as the first among the equals and the symbol of the unity of the entire Church. Each autonomous Church is responsible to preserve the foundational faith transmitted through the apostles as lived and practiced according to each one’s tradition and has jurisdiction all over the world to live it according to the ecclesial structure specific to it. The suggestions made by the study document, Bishop of Rome…come to more or less the same conclusion.

The Way Ahead

The dialogue of charity that was begun in 1967 with the common declaration by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I needs to be continued with deeper conviction and a renewed commitment to foster communion among all the churches with the recognition of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome as the symbol of the unity of the Church. According to the 1967 Common Declaration, “They recognize that the true dialogue of charity, which should be at the basis of all relations between themselves and between their Churches, must be rooted in total fidelity to the one Lord Jesus Christ and in mutual respect for each one’s traditions. Every element which can strengthen the bonds of charity, of communion, and of common action is a cause for spiritual rejoicing and should be promoted; anything which can harm this charity, communion, and common action is to be eliminated with the grace of God and the creative strength of the Holy Spirit.

In the practical suggestions proposed at the end of the study document, the Bishop of Rome, besides calling for a re-interpretation of the decree on papal primacy and infallibility as declared and taught by Vatican I, proposes the exercise of synodality both within the Catholic Church and with the other sister Churches. Further, the document says, “The concept of “conciliar fellowship” already described as a possible model and method of unity in the 1970s by the World Council of Churches and adopted by various Christian world communions, still today offers possible ways forward. Certainly, conciliarity/synodality will constitute an aspect of the internal life of the reunited Church, and therefore refers to the goal of ecumenism and not to its means. However, the expression “conciliar fellowship” intends not only the end, but also the means on the way to unity, within the framework of various common structures and initiatives of a conciliar/synodal type” (No, 156).

In a fragmented world, only real communion of all the Churches that profess one Lord, one faith, and one baptism can stand as a true witness to Christ in whom everything is held together. For this, both the Catholic Church and the other sister Churches must give up their worldly understanding and exercise of power, sense of superiority, and false identity and put on the self-emptying mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5) that they all may be one!