Pope Benedict XVI�s recent dropping of the patriarchal title (�Patriarch of the West�) could be a harbinger of a reorganization of the Catholic Church into several sui juris churches united by the pope through a common faith and communion. And that, in turn, could be a steeping stone toward reunion with the Orthodox.
The key seems to be in separating the functions of episcopal patriarchy from papal primacy. A post by Eli was extremely insightful and illuminating of this. He quoted another post from another internet forum. I tracked down the source of that original post through Google. In it, a Father Ambrose quotes two statements by then Cardinal Ratzinger on this whole matter of episcopal patriarchy versus papal primacy. I am providing the entire text of that original post here because it is quite possibly crucial for understanding what Pope Benedict might be intending.
[beginning of the text of the original post]
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http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=60633&page=2 (about the middle of the page)
June 26, 2005, 11:05 AM Fr Ambrose
Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2004
Location: Middle Earth
Posts: 9,473 Re: Nicene Creed And Apostle's Creed
Quote by itsjustdave1988:
�Pope Benedict XVI (while still Cardinal), in his letter to the Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan of Switzerland explains this problem of autocephalous Churches...
[Papal primacy of jurisdiction], the "main obstacle" to the restoration of full communion... is at the same time the main opportunity for this, because without it the Catholic Church would long ago have fallen apart into national churches and churches of this or that rite, which would make it quite impossible to gain any general view of the ecumenical landscape. (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Letter to Metropolitan Damaskinos of Switzerland, 20 Feb 2001) [ . . . ]�That is most interesting. The Pope seems to be of two minds on this matter of ecclesiology.
Pope Benedict XVI advocates breaking up of the Church of Rome
in Favour of Orthodox Model of Ecclesiology
You can find the entire article at
http://www.georgetown.edu/centers/w...ec-6komonch.htm Comments by Fr. Joseph Komanchak, professor CUA, and member of the North American Commission of Orthodox and Roman Catholics. ( SCOBA / NCCB) .
Joseph Ratzinger, for example, pointed out the need to disentangle the confusion between the patriarchal and primatial roles of the bishop of Rome and to break up the Latin patriarchate, replacing it with a number of "patriarchal areas," that is, regions with an autonomy similar to that of the ancient patriarchates, but under the direction of the
episcopal conferences.
In an essay entitled "Primacy and Episcopacy," Ratzinger developed the theme at greater length:
"The image of a centralized state which the Catholic church presented right up to the council does not flow only from the Petrine office, but from its strict amalgamation with the patriarchal function which grew ever stronger in the course of history and which fell to the bishop of Rome for the whole of Latin Christendom. The uniform canon law, the uniform liturgy, the uniform appointment of bishops by the Roman center: all these are things which are not necessarily part of the primacy but result from the close union of the two offices. For that reason, the task to consider for the future will be to distinguish again and more clearly between the proper function of the successor of Peter and the patriarchal office and, where necessary, to create new patriarchates and to detach them from the Latin church. To embrace unity with the pope would then no longer mean being incorporated into a uniform administration, but only being inserted into a unity of faith and communion, in which the pope is acknowledged to have the power to give binding interpretations of the revelation given in Christ whose authority is accepted whenever it is given in definitive form. "
After exploring the ecumenical implications of this vision, Ratzinger concluded:
"Finally, in the not too distant future one could consider whether the churches of Asia and Africa, like those of the East, should not present their own forms as autonomous `patriarchates' or `great churches' or whatever such ecclesiae in the Ecclesia might be called in the future."
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[end of the text of the original post]
Now here (in my conjecture) is the possible significance of the pope dropping the title "patriarch of the west." He is possibly trying to do three things.
First, he is possibly trying to separate the functions of episcopal patriarchy from papal primacy.
Second, he is possibly trying to lay the groundwork for establishing new patriarchs throughout the Catholic Church: for East Asia, for India and for other general areas of the world.
Third, he is possibly thereby trying to establish an ecclesial structure for reunion with Orthodoxy to occur. Allow me to elaborate on this third point.
The pope wrote that papal primacy is both the biggest obstacle and the biggest opportunity for real ecumenism. It is the biggest obstacle because Orthodox Christians don't believe that the pope has the authority to tell them what to do and, generally, acting like their boss. On the other hand, the Orthodox do believe that the pope is a "first among equals,� which role provides a very valuable function in uniting the Church.
How to accomplish both? How to overcome the obstacle of papal primacy yet preserve the unifying good of papal primacy ?
The answer of Pope Benedict XVI seems to be separating episcopal patriarchy from papal primacy. In other words, it seems that the pope wants to separate being Catholic from being *Roman* Catholic. There would be, in short, several sui juris Churches who are in communion with each other by being in communion with the Bishop of Rome. Hence, there would be real regional diversity within the Catholic Church in jurisdiction, organization, liturgical expression; and, there would also be unity through a common faith and communion with the Bishop of Rome.
This situation already exists within the Catholic Church with its Eastern sui juris Catholic Churches. The �Greek Catholics� (or, �Uniates�) already consist of almost twenty sui juris churches: each with their own jurisdiction, organization, liturgical and theological expression and tradition. Yet, these Churches are also in communion with each other by sharing a common faith and communion with the Bishop of Rome.
However, it seems that Pope Benedict XVI might want to further apply this paradigm to the rest of the Catholic Church. In other words, he might want to apply it to what is currently the Roman part of the Catholic Church. Hence, as the quote from then Cardinal Ratzinger states, "To embrace unity with the pope would then no longer mean being incorporated into a uniform administration, but only being inserted into a unity of faith and communion [ . . . ]" Hence as he further stated, "in the not too distant future one could consider whether the churches of Asia and Africa, like those of the East, should not present their own forms as autonomous `patriarchates' or `great churches' or whatever such ecclesiae in the Ecclesia might be called in the future."
If this is the case --and I'm just reading the "tea leaves" of an internet post-- the ramifications could be enormous in two ways.
First, it could mean a wholesale reorganization of the Catholic Church. The Roman part of the Catholic Church would be divided into several, regional sui juris Churches who are united by --and not dominated by-- a common faith and communion with the Bishop of Rome. There could be an East Asian Church, an Indian Church, a Western European Church, a Latin American Church, a North American Church, an African Church and so on. Each Church would be sui juris. Each Church would have its own jurisdiction, its administration, its own clergy, its own liturgical and even theological expression and tradition. Presiding over each Church would be its own government: its own bishop (a "patriarch"?) or �whatever such ecclesiae in the Ecclesia might be called in the future.� Each of these sui juris Churches would not be dominated by Rome; they would be united by Rome by sharing a common faith and communion. Such a change within the Catholic Church would be nothing less than revolutionary. The Bishop of Rome, for the first time in 1200 years or more, would cease trying to be a monarch over other bishops, and instead it would be trying to be a genuine �first among equals� of bishops.
Second, hence, this could be a substantial step in the direction of the Catholic Church reuniting with the Orthodox Church. As Pope Benedict XVI observed while he was still Cardinal Ratzinger, a major obstacle to restoring unity between the Orthodox and the Catholics is papal primacy. That is because the Orthodox believe that the pope is a first among equals of bishops, not a monarch of bishops. Well, if Rome chooses to treat the bishops who are already in communion with it as equals rather than as subjects, it could go a long way to proving to the Orthodox that Rome is prepared to likewise treat Orthodox bishops as equals instead of as subjects. From his quoted writings as a cardinal, it seems that Pope Benedict XVI might be endorsing this. He might intend a return of the papacy to precisely that role: a first among equals of bishops, instead of a monarch of bishops. Such a papacy would provide unity not by dominating others sui juris Churches but rather by a common faith and communion. That was role of the papacy during the first millennium of Christianity, when the Church was both Orthodox and Catholic. A reorganization of the Catholic Church along the lines of this first millennium model, therefore, could be a substantial step toward reuniting the Catholics and the Orthodox into one Church again.
Put another way: the Orthodox say that reunion with the Catholics is impossible till the Catholics return to their Orthodox roots. Well, a patriarchal reorganization of the Catholic Church --by separating episcopal patriarchy from papal primacy, by dividing the Roman part of the Catholic Church into several sui juris Churches who are united by (and not dominated by) the Bishop of Rome, by the papacy acting as a first among equals and not as a monarch, through sharing a common faith and communion -- would be a huge step by the Catholic Church in going back toward its Orthodox roots. Such a reorganization would change the Catholic Church into something that is much more like the Orthodox Church: in its ecclesiology and in its organization. And if the Catholic Church is more like the Orthodox Church, both Churches are potentially more likely to reunite with each other.
Of course, it would probably take an ecumenical council to complete the reunion of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. Hence, reorganizing the Catholic Church would not be a substitute for an ecumenical council of reunion. But, it could be a substantial step toward such a council. Actions speak louder than words, and a reorganization of the Catholic Church along, in effect, Orthodox lines could be a serious and substantial first step in proving to the Orthodox that Rome is becoming ready for an ecumenical council of reunion.
Again, I'm just reading tea leaves with scraps of information from the internet and much conjecture. I could well be wrong.
Yet, if Pope Benedict XVI�s recent dropping of the patriarchal title is a harbinger of things to come, we might be seeing the first practical steps for enormous structural change within the Catholic Church. It could be the reorganization of the Catholic Church away from its model of a monarchial papacy (which it had for the last thousand years) and back to its model of a first among equals papacy (which it had during its first thousand years). For those who hope for the decentralization of the Catholic Church, and for those who yearn for reunion between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, things could become very interesting and sooner than anticipated.
-- John