Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: The Episcopalian Eucharist
ROME, SEPT. 14, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Pursuant to our commentaries on Anglican eucharistic theology (see Aug. 31) we received appreciative comments as well as critical observations. Above all, a couple of readers questioned the use of the term "semiofficial" as applied to ARCIC, the commission of Anglicans and Roman Catholics who have painstakingly undertaken this dialogue. As one reader wrote:
"In what sense is ARCIC 'semiofficial'? They are listed on the Vatican Web site under the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the members were appointed by the leaders of the respective communities, etc. After celebrating vespers together in 1996, John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury together signed a common declaration stating: 'We affirm the signs of progress provided in the statements of ARCIC I on the Eucharist and on the understanding of ministry and ordination.' In what sense is this not official, but semiofficial? Since you mentioned ARCIC on the Eucharist, shouldn't you also have mentioned the agreement reached on ministry and ordination? Your comments barely get past Leo XIII's judgment on Anglican orders, and do not acknowledge the above-mentioned agreements with the papal affirmation. The signs of progress include a statement on a new context for understanding Leo XIII's declaration on Anglican ordination. Isn't that an important part of our Church's teaching on Anglican orders?"
Our reader continued: "The ARCIC agreements also provide what is probably a better context for understanding why we do not share the Eucharist. ARCIC 2's statement Church as Communion describes the communion that exists within each community, and its relation with our communion with God and Christ. Respecting this communion, and the difficulties that have grown around intercommunion, is probably a more helpful way to address the problems of a Catholic organist in an Episcopalian parish: 'Christians can never acquiesce with complacency in disunity without impairing further their communion with God. As separated churches grow towards ecclesial communion it is essential to recognize the profound measure of communion they already share through participation in spiritual communion with God and through those elements of a visible communion of shared faith and sacramental life they can already recognize in one another. If some element or important facet of visible communion is judged to be lacking, the communion between them, though it may be real, is incomplete.'
"These are important issues that your correspondent will be facing on a weekly, if not daily, basis. I hope you will explain better your downgrading of ARCIC to 'semiofficial' and why pre-conciliar attitudes on defects and certainty are more important than post-conciliar efforts to struggle with our divisions."
My use of the (admittedly non-technical) expression "semiofficial" never sought to downgrade ARCIC but was an attempt at describing its nature.
ARCIC is much more than a private or unofficial forum of experts seeking a formula of agreement. Yet at the same time it is not "official" in the sense that the members could speak formally in the name of their respective Church or communion. Its reports are published independently and are presented for approval to the respective authorities.
Regarding the agreement that ARCIC reached with respect to Eucharist and ministry, Anglican authorities meeting at the Lambeth Conference accepted that it substantially agreed with its doctrine.
Catholic approval was slower in coming. Although the Catholic Church quickly welcomed the ARCIC accord, an official response did not arrive until 1991. In this official response the Holy See recognized that "it constitutes a significant milestone not only in relations between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion but in the ecumenical movement as a whole." The Catholic Church "judges, however, that it is not yet possible to state that substantial agreement has been reached on all the questions studied by the Commission. There still remain between Anglicans and Catholics important differences regarding essential matters of Catholic doctrine." The document then proceeded to elaborate several aspects of Eucharistic and ministerial theology that needed further study.
Later, in 1993, ARCIC responded with several clarifying statements on the disputed points. In the wake of this, in March 1994 Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Holy See's office for promoting Christian Unity, wrote to the co-chairmen of ARCIC:
"On September 4th last, you sent me a document containing 'Clarifications of Certain Aspects of the Agreed Statements on Eucharist and Ministry' which had been submitted to and approved by the ARCIC-II meeting taking place in Venice at that time.
"This document has been examined by the appropriate dicasteries of the Holy See and I am now in a position to assure you that the said clarifications have indeed thrown new light on the questions concerning Eucharist and Ministry in the Final Report of ARCIC-I for which further study had been requested.
"The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity is therefore most grateful to the members of ARCIC-II, and to those from ARCIC-I who prepared these clarifications. The agreement reached on Eucharist and Ministry by ARCIC-I is thus greatly strengthened and no further study would seem to be required at this stage."
This was the context which permitted the joint statement of Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury mentioned by our reader.
While this is certainly a welcome sign of progress, it would not be correct to say that the ARCIC statement thus becomes "official" Catholic teaching in the proper sense. It is rather that the Church recognizes, at the highest level, that the statement is in conformity with official Catholic doctrine.
The complete texts of all these documents can be found at www.prounione.urbe.it.
With respect to ministry, I did not enter into that subject because the ARCIC dialogue did not directly address the question of validity but rather the understanding of ministry. With respect to the idea of ordained ministry as a sacramental and sacrificial priesthood the group achieved a consensus acceptable to both parties in the dialogue.
It did not discuss the question of who was or who could become a priest. Even ARCIC admits that the subsequent admission of women into Anglican ordained ministry has definitively altered the terms of the debate.
Also, while it is possible to place Leo XIII's declaration into new contexts -- and not a few experts have questioned the strength of some of the historical arguments contained in his bull "Apostolicae Curae" -- the fact remains that his authoritative declaration of the invalidity of Anglican orders remains official Catholic doctrine.
This fact was reaffirmed in 1998 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in his commentary on John Paul II's apostolic letter "Ad Tuendam Fidem." In this commentary he specifically lists Pope Leo's declaration of nullity as a teaching to which Catholics must give "firm and definitive assent." These teachings are not understood as revealed doctrines but as those that the Church's teaching authority finds so closely connected to God's revealed truth that belief in them is required.
While I would agree with our correspondent that there were many possible ways to focus the original answer, I beg to differ from him in his division between pre- and post-Vatican II mentalities. I agree with Benedict XVI's assessment that the Second Vatican Council can only be genuinely interpreted according to a "hermeneutic of continuity" with the other 20 ecumenical councils and the Church's entire Tradition.
I welcome all progress in communion among Christians, and believe that the original question by a Catholic organist working in an Anglican parish, and his desire to respect Anglican sensibilities, is itself a tangible sign of this progress. I also believe, however, that true progress in communion is best served by honesty regarding our core beliefs and the limits these beliefs impose.
Pursuant to our commentaries on Anglican eucharistic theology (see Aug. 31) we received appreciative comments as well as critical observations. Above all, a couple of readers questioned the use of the term "semiofficial" as applied to ARCIC, the commission of Anglicans and Roman Catholics who have painstakingly undertaken this dialogue. As one reader wrote:
"In what sense is ARCIC 'semiofficial'? They are listed on the Vatican Web site under the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the members were appointed by the leaders of the respective communities, etc. After celebrating vespers together in 1996, John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury together signed a common declaration stating: 'We affirm the signs of progress provided in the statements of ARCIC I on the Eucharist and on the understanding of ministry and ordination.' In what sense is this not official, but semiofficial? Since you mentioned ARCIC on the Eucharist, shouldn't you also have mentioned the agreement reached on ministry and ordination? Your comments barely get past Leo XIII's judgment on Anglican orders, and do not acknowledge the above-mentioned agreements with the papal affirmation. The signs of progress include a statement on a new context for understanding Leo XIII's declaration on Anglican ordination. Isn't that an important part of our Church's teaching on Anglican orders?"
Our reader continued: "The ARCIC agreements also provide what is probably a better context for understanding why we do not share the Eucharist. ARCIC 2's statement Church as Communion describes the communion that exists within each community, and its relation with our communion with God and Christ. Respecting this communion, and the difficulties that have grown around intercommunion, is probably a more helpful way to address the problems of a Catholic organist in an Episcopalian parish: 'Christians can never acquiesce with complacency in disunity without impairing further their communion with God. As separated churches grow towards ecclesial communion it is essential to recognize the profound measure of communion they already share through participation in spiritual communion with God and through those elements of a visible communion of shared faith and sacramental life they can already recognize in one another. If some element or important facet of visible communion is judged to be lacking, the communion between them, though it may be real, is incomplete.'
"These are important issues that your correspondent will be facing on a weekly, if not daily, basis. I hope you will explain better your downgrading of ARCIC to 'semiofficial' and why pre-conciliar attitudes on defects and certainty are more important than post-conciliar efforts to struggle with our divisions."
My use of the (admittedly non-technical) expression "semiofficial" never sought to downgrade ARCIC but was an attempt at describing its nature.
ARCIC is much more than a private or unofficial forum of experts seeking a formula of agreement. Yet at the same time it is not "official" in the sense that the members could speak formally in the name of their respective Church or communion. Its reports are published independently and are presented for approval to the respective authorities.
Regarding the agreement that ARCIC reached with respect to Eucharist and ministry, Anglican authorities meeting at the Lambeth Conference accepted that it substantially agreed with its doctrine.
Catholic approval was slower in coming. Although the Catholic Church quickly welcomed the ARCIC accord, an official response did not arrive until 1991. In this official response the Holy See recognized that "it constitutes a significant milestone not only in relations between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion but in the ecumenical movement as a whole." The Catholic Church "judges, however, that it is not yet possible to state that substantial agreement has been reached on all the questions studied by the Commission. There still remain between Anglicans and Catholics important differences regarding essential matters of Catholic doctrine." The document then proceeded to elaborate several aspects of Eucharistic and ministerial theology that needed further study.
Later, in 1993, ARCIC responded with several clarifying statements on the disputed points. In the wake of this, in March 1994 Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Holy See's office for promoting Christian Unity, wrote to the co-chairmen of ARCIC:
"On September 4th last, you sent me a document containing 'Clarifications of Certain Aspects of the Agreed Statements on Eucharist and Ministry' which had been submitted to and approved by the ARCIC-II meeting taking place in Venice at that time.
"This document has been examined by the appropriate dicasteries of the Holy See and I am now in a position to assure you that the said clarifications have indeed thrown new light on the questions concerning Eucharist and Ministry in the Final Report of ARCIC-I for which further study had been requested.
"The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity is therefore most grateful to the members of ARCIC-II, and to those from ARCIC-I who prepared these clarifications. The agreement reached on Eucharist and Ministry by ARCIC-I is thus greatly strengthened and no further study would seem to be required at this stage."
This was the context which permitted the joint statement of Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury mentioned by our reader.
While this is certainly a welcome sign of progress, it would not be correct to say that the ARCIC statement thus becomes "official" Catholic teaching in the proper sense. It is rather that the Church recognizes, at the highest level, that the statement is in conformity with official Catholic doctrine.
The complete texts of all these documents can be found at www.prounione.urbe.it.
With respect to ministry, I did not enter into that subject because the ARCIC dialogue did not directly address the question of validity but rather the understanding of ministry. With respect to the idea of ordained ministry as a sacramental and sacrificial priesthood the group achieved a consensus acceptable to both parties in the dialogue.
It did not discuss the question of who was or who could become a priest. Even ARCIC admits that the subsequent admission of women into Anglican ordained ministry has definitively altered the terms of the debate.
Also, while it is possible to place Leo XIII's declaration into new contexts -- and not a few experts have questioned the strength of some of the historical arguments contained in his bull "Apostolicae Curae" -- the fact remains that his authoritative declaration of the invalidity of Anglican orders remains official Catholic doctrine.
This fact was reaffirmed in 1998 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in his commentary on John Paul II's apostolic letter "Ad Tuendam Fidem." In this commentary he specifically lists Pope Leo's declaration of nullity as a teaching to which Catholics must give "firm and definitive assent." These teachings are not understood as revealed doctrines but as those that the Church's teaching authority finds so closely connected to God's revealed truth that belief in them is required.
While I would agree with our correspondent that there were many possible ways to focus the original answer, I beg to differ from him in his division between pre- and post-Vatican II mentalities. I agree with Benedict XVI's assessment that the Second Vatican Council can only be genuinely interpreted according to a "hermeneutic of continuity" with the other 20 ecumenical councils and the Church's entire Tradition.
I welcome all progress in communion among Christians, and believe that the original question by a Catholic organist working in an Anglican parish, and his desire to respect Anglican sensibilities, is itself a tangible sign of this progress. I also believe, however, that true progress in communion is best served by honesty regarding our core beliefs and the limits these beliefs impose.
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