"Ecclesial Communion, Conciliarity and
Authority" (November 15, 2007)
Statement of Joint
Catholic-Orthodox Commission
RAVENNA, Italy, NOV. 15, 2007- Here is the final document of the
plenary assembly of the Joint International Commission for Theological
Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, held Oct.
8-14 in Ravenna. The statement, which was released today, is titled
"Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature
of the Church: Ecclesial Communion, Conciliarity and Authority."
* * *
Introduction
1. "That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in
you, may they also be one in us so that the world may believe that you
have sent me" (Jn 17, 21). We give thanks to the triune God who has
gathered us -- members of the Joint International Commission for the
Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox
Church -- so that we might respond together in obedience to this prayer
of Jesus. We are conscious that our dialogue is restarting in a world
that has changed profoundly in recent times. The processes of
secularization and globalization, and the challenge posed by new
encounters between Christians and believers of other religions, require
that the disciples of Christ give witness to their faith, love and hope
with a new urgency. May the Spirit of the risen Lord empower our hearts
and minds to bear the fruits of unity in the relationship between our
Churches, so that together we may serve the unity and peace of the
whole human family. May the same Spirit lead us to the full expression
of the mystery of ecclesial communion, that we gratefully acknowledge
as a wonderful gift of God to the world, a mystery whose beauty
radiates especially in the holiness of the saints, to which all are
called.
2. Following the plan adopted at its first meeting in Rhodes in 1980,
the Joint Commission began by addressing the mystery of ecclesial
koinônia in the light of the mystery of the Holy Trinity and of
the Eucharist. This enabled a deeper understanding of ecclesial
communion, both at the level of the local community around its bishop,
and at the level of relations between bishops and between the local
Churches over which each presides in communion with the One Church of
God extending across the universe (Munich Document, 1982). In order to
clarify the nature of communion, the Joint Commission underlined the
relationship which exists between faith, the sacraments -- especially
the three sacraments of Christian initiation -- and the unity of the
Church (Bari Document, 1987). Then by studying the sacrament of Order
in the sacramental structure of the Church, the Commissionindicated
clearly the role of apostolic succession as the guarantee of the
koinônia of the whole Church and of its continuity with the
Apostles in every time and place (Valamo Document, 1988). From 1990
until 2000, the main subject discussed by the Commission was that of
"uniatism" (Balamand Document, 1993; Baltimore, 2000), a subject to
which we shall give further consideration in the near future. Now we
take up the theme raised at the end of the Valamo Document, and reflect
upon ecclesial communion, conciliarity and authority.
3. On the basis of these common affirmations of our faith, we must now
draw the ecclesiological and canonical consequences which flow from the
sacramental nature of the Church. Since the Eucharist, in the light of
the Trinitarian mystery, constitutes the criterion of ecclesial life as
a whole, how do institutional structures visibly reflect the mystery of
this koinônia? Since the one and holy Church is realised both in
each local Church celebrating the Eucharist and at the same time in the
koinônia of all the Churches, how does the life of the Churches
manifest this sacramental structure?
4. Unity and multiplicity, the relationship between the one Church and
the many local Churches, that constitutive relationship of the Church,
also poses the question of the relationship between the authority
inherent in every ecclesial institution and the conciliarity which
flows from the mystery of the Church as communion. As the terms
"authority" and "conciliarity" cover a very wide area, we shall begin
by defining the way we understand them.[1]
1. The Foundations of Conciliarity and of Authority
1. Conciliarity
5. The term conciliarity or synodality comes from the word "council"
(synodos in Greek, concilium in Latin), which primarily denotes a
gathering of bishops exercising a particular responsibility. It is also
possible, however, to take the term in a more comprehensive sense
referring to all the members of the Church (cfr. the Russian term
sobornost ). Accordingly we shall speak first of all of conciliarity as
signifying that each member of the Body of Christ, by virtue of
baptism, has his or her place and proper responsibility in eucharistic
koinônia ( communio in Latin). Conciliarity reflects the
Trinitarian mystery and finds therein its ultimate foundation. The
three persons of the Holy Trinity are "enumerated", as St Basil the
Great says (On the Holy Spirit , 45), without the designation as
"second" or "third" person implying any diminution or subordination.
Similarly, there also exists an order (taxis) among local Churches,
which however does not imply inequality in their ecclesial nature.
6. The Eucharist manifests the Trinitarian koinônia actualized in
the faithful as an organic unity of several members each of whom has a
charism, a service or a proper ministry, necessary in their variety and
diversity for the edification of all in the one ecclesial Body of
Christ (cfr. 1 Cor 12, 4-30). All are called, engaged and held
accountable -- each in a different though no less real manner -- in the
common accomplishment of the actions which, through the Holy Spirit,
make present in the Church the ministry of Christ, "the way, the truth
and the life" (Jn 14, 6). In this way, the mystery of salvific
koinônia with the Blessed Trinity is realized in humankind.
7. The whole community and each person in it bears the "conscience of
the Church" (ekkesiastikè syneidesis), as Greek theology calls
it, the sensus fidelium in Latin terminology. By virtue of Baptism and
Confirmation (Chrismation) each member of the Church exercises a form
of authority in the Body of Christ. In this sense, all the faithful
(and not just the bishops) are responsible for the faith professed at
their Baptism. It is our common teaching that the people of God, having
received "the anointing which comes from the Holy One" (1 Jn 2, 20 and
27), in communion with their pastors, cannot err in matters of faith
(cfr. Jn 16, 13).
8. In proclaiming the Church's faith and in clarifying the norms of
Christian conduct, the bishops have a specific task by divine
institution. "As successors of the Apostles, the bishops are
responsible for communion in the apostolic faith and for fidelity to
the demands of a life in keeping with the Gospel" (Valamo Document, n.
40).
9. Councils are the principal way in which communion among bishops is
exercised (cfr. Valamo Document, n. 52). For "attachment to the
apostolic communion binds all the bishops together linking the
épiskopè of the local Churches to the College of the
Apostles. They too form a college rooted by the Spirit in the 'once for
all' of the apostolic group, the unique witness to the faith. This
means not only that they should be united among themselves in faith,
charity, mission, reconciliation, but that they have in common the same
responsibility and the same service to the Church" (Munich Document,
III, 4).
10. This conciliar dimension of the Church's life belongs to its
deep-seated nature. That is to say, it is founded in the will of Christ
for his people (cfr. Mt 18, 15-20), even if its canonical realizations
are of necessity also determined by history and by the social,
political and cultural context. Defined thus, the conciliar dimension
of the Church is to be found at the three levels of ecclesial
communion, the local, the regional and the universal: at the local
level of the diocese entrusted to the bishop; at the regional level of
a group of local Churches with their bishops who "recognize who is the
first amongst themselves" (Apostolic Canon 34); and at the universal
level, where those who are first (protoi ) in the various regions,
together with all the bishops, cooperate in that which concerns the
totality of the Church. At this level also, the protoi must recognize
who is the first amongst themselves.
11. The Church exists in many and different places, which manifests its
catholicity. Being "catholic", it is a living organism, the Body of
Christ. Each local Church, when in communion with the other local
Churches, is a manifestation of the one and indivisible Church of God.
To be "catholic" therefore means to be in communion with the one Church
of all times and of all places. That is why the breaking of eucharistic
communion means the wounding of one of the essential characteristics of
the Church, its catholicity.
2. Authority
12. When we speak of authority, we are referring to exousia, as it is
described in the New Testament. The authority of the Church comes from
its Lord and Head, Jesus Christ. Having received his authority from God
the Father, Christ after his Resurrection shared it, through the Holy
Spirit, with the Apostles (cfr. Jn 20, 22). Through the Apostles it was
transmitted to the bishops, their successors, and through them to the
whole Church. Jesus Christ our Lord exercised this authority in various
ways whereby, until its eschatological fulfilment (cfr. 1 Cor 15,
24-28), the Kingdom of God manifests itself to the world: by teaching
(cfr. Mt 5, 2; Lk 5, 3); by performing miracles (cfr. Mk 1, 30-34; Mt
14, 35-36); by driving out impure spirits (cfr. Mk 1, 27; Lk 4, 35-36);
in the forgiveness of sins (cfr. Mk 2, 10; Lk 5, 24); and in leading
his disciples in the ways of salvation (cfr. Mt 16, 24). In conformity
with the mandate received from Christ (cfr. Mt 28, 18-20), the exercise
of the authority proper to the apostles and afterwards to the bishops
includes the proclamation and the teaching of the Gospel,
sanctification through the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist, and
the pastoral direction of those who believe (cfr. Lk 10, 16).
13. Authority in the Church belongs to Jesus Christ himself, the one
Head of the Church (cfr. Eph 1, 22; 5, 23). By his Holy Spirit, the
Church as his Body shares in his authority (cfr. Jn 20, 22-23).
Authority in the Church has as its goal the gathering of the whole of
humankind into Jesus Christ (cfr. Eph 1,10; Jn 11, 52). The authority
linked with the grace received in ordination is not the private
possession of those who receive it nor something delegated from the
community; rather, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit destined for the
service (diakonia) of the community and never exercised outside of it.
Its exercise includes the participation of the whole community, the
bishop being in the Church and the Church in the bishop (cfr. St
Cyprian, Ep. 66, 8).
14. The exercise of authority accomplished in the Church, in the name
of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, must be, in all its
forms and at all levels, a service (diakonia ) of love, as was that of
Christ (cfr. Mk 10, 45; Jn 13, 1-16). The authority of which we are
speaking, since it expresses divine authority, cannot subsist in the
Church except in the love between the one who exercises it and those
subject to it. It is, therefore, an authority without domination,
without physical or moral coercion. Since it is a participation in the
exousia of the crucified and exalted Lord, to whom has been given all
authority in heaven and on earth (cfr. Mt 28, 18), it can and must call
for obedience. At the same time, because of the Incarnation and the
Cross, it is radically different from that of leaders of nations and of
the great of this world (cfr. Lk 22, 25-27). While this authority is
certainly entrusted to people who, because of weakness and sin, are
often tempted to abuse it, nevertheless by its very nature the
evangelical identification between authority and service constitutes a
fundamental norm for the Church. For Christians, to rule is to serve.
The exercise and spiritual efficacy of ecclesial authority are thereby
assured through free consent and voluntary co-operation. At a personal
level, this translates into obedience to the authority of the Church in
order to follow Christ who was lovingly obedient to the Father even
unto death and death on a Cross (cfr. Phil 2, 8).
15. Authority within the Church is founded upon the Word of God,
present and alive in the community of the disciples. Scripture is the
revealed Word of God, as the Church, through the Holy Spirit present
and active within it, has discerned it in the living Tradition received
from the Apostles. At the heart of this Tradition is the Eucharist
(cfr. 1 Cor 10, 16-17; 11, 23-26). The authority of Scripture derives
from the fact that it is the Word of God which, read in the Church and
by the Church, transmits the Gospel of salvation. Through Scripture,
Christ addresses the assembled community and the heart of each
believer. The Church, through the Holy Spirit present within it,
authentically interprets Scripture, responding to the needs of times
and places. The constant custom of the Councils to enthrone the Gospels
in the midst of the assembly both attests the presence of Christ in his
Word, which is the necessary point of reference for all their
discussions and decisions, and at the same time affirms the authority
of the Church to interpret this Word of God.
16. In his divine Economy, God wills that his Church should have a
structure oriented towards salvation. To this essential structure
belong the faith professed and the sacraments celebrated in the
apostolic succession. Authority in the ecclesial communion is linked to
this essential structure: its exercise is regulated by the canons and
statutes of the Church. Some of these regulations may be differently
applied according to the needs of ecclesial communion in different
times and places, provided that the essential structure of the Church
is always respected. Thus, just as communion in the sacraments
presupposes communion in the same faith (cfr. Bari Document, nn.29-33),
so too, in order for there to be full ecclesial communion, there must
be, between our Churches, reciprocal recognition of canonical
legislations in their legitimate diversities.
II. The threefold actualization of Conciliarity and Authority
17. Having pointed out the foundation of conciliarity and of authority
in the Church, and having noted the complexity of the content of these
terms, we must now reply to the following questions: How do
institutional elements of the Church visibly express and serve the
mystery of koinônia? How do the canonical structures of the
Churches express their sacramental life? To this end we distinguished
between three levels of ecclesial institutions: that of the local
Church around its bishop; that of a region taking in several
neighbouring local Churches; and that of the whole inhabited earth
(oikoumene ) which embraces all the local Churches.
1. The Local Level
18. The Church of God exists where there is a community gathered
together in the Eucharist, presided over, directly or through his
presbyters, by a bishop legitimately ordained into the apostolic
succession, teaching the faith received from the Apostles, in communion
with the other bishops and their Churches. The fruit of this Eucharist
and this ministry is to gather into an authentic communion of faith,
prayer, mission, fraternal love and mutual aid, all those who have
received the Spirit of Christ in Baptism. This communion is the frame
in which all ecclesial authority is exercised. Communion is the
criterion for its exercise.
19. Each local Church has as its mission to be, by the grace of God, a
place where God is served and honoured, where the Gospel is announced,
where the sacraments are celebrated, where the faithful strive to
alleviate the world's misery, and where each believer can find
salvation. It is the light of the world (cfr. Mt 5, 14-16), the leaven
(cfr. Mt 13, 33), the priestly community of God (cfr. 1 Pet 2, 5 and
9). The canonical norms which govern it aim at ensuring this mission.
20. By virtue of that very Baptism which made him or her a member of
Christ, each baptized person is called, according to the gifts of the
one Holy Spirit, to serve within the community (cfr. 1 Cor 12, 4-27).
Thus through communion, whereby all the members are at the service of
each other, the local Church appears already "synodal" or "conciliar"
in its structure. This "synodality" does not show itself only in the
relationships of solidarity, mutual assistance and complementarity
which the various ordained ministries have among themselves. Certainly,
the presbyterium is the council of the bishop (cfr. St Ignatius of
Antioch, To the Trallians, 3), and the deacon is his "right arm" (
Didascalia Apostolorum, 2, 28, 6), so that, according to the
recommendation of St Ignatius of Antioch, everything be done in concert
(cfr. To the Ephesians 6). Synodality, however, also involves all the
members of the community in obedience to the bishop, who is the protos
and head (kephale) of the local Church, required by ecclesial
communion. In keeping with Eastern and Western traditions, the active
participation of the laity, both men and women, of monastics and
consecrated persons, is effected in the diocese and the parish through
many forms of service and mission.
21. The charisms of the members of the community have their origin in
the one Holy Spirit, and are directed to the good of all. This fact
sheds light on both the demands and the limits of the authority of each
one in the Church. There should be neither passivity nor substitution
of functions, neither negligence nor domination of anyone by another.
All charisms and ministries in the Church converge in unity under the
ministry of the bishop, who serves the communion of the local Church.
All are called to be renewed by the Holy Spirit in the sacraments and
to respond in constant repentance (metanoia), so that their communion
in truth and charity is ensured.
2. The Regional Level
22. Since the Church reveals itself to be catholic in the synaxis of
the local Church, this catholicity must truly manifest itself in
communion with the other Churches which confess the same apostolic
faith and share the same basic ecclesial structure, beginning with
those close at hand in virtue of their common responsibility for
mission in that region which is theirs (cfr. Munich Document, III, 3,
and Valamo Document, nn.52 and 53). Communion among Churches is
expressed in the ordination of bishops. This ordination is conferred
according to canonical order by three or more bishops, or at least two
(cfr. Nicaea I, Canon 4), who act in the name of the episcopal body and
of the people of God, having themselves received their ministry from
the Holy Spirit by the imposition of hands in the apostolic succession.
When this is accomplished in conformity with the canons, communion
among Churches in the true faith, sacraments and ecclesial life is
ensured, as well as living communion with previous generations.
23. Such effective communion among several local Churches, each being
the Catholic Church in a particular place, has been expressed by
certain practices: the participation of the bishops of neighbouring
sees at the ordination of a bishop to the local Church; the invitation
to a bishop from another Church to concelebrate at the synaxis of the
local Church; the welcome extended to the faithful from these other
Churches to partake of the eucharistic table; the exchange of letters
on the occasion of an ordination; and the provision of material
assistance.
24. A canon accepted in the East as in the West, expresses the
relationship between the local Churches of a region: "The bishops of
each province (ethnos) must recognize the one who is first (protos)
amongst them, and consider him to be their head (kephale), and not do
anything important without his consent (gnome); each bishop may only do
what concerns his own diocese (paroikia) and its dependent territories.
But the first (protos) cannot do anything without the consent of all.
For in this way concord (homonoia ) will prevail, and God will be
praised through the Lord in the Holy Spirit" (Apostolic Canon 34).
25. This norm, which re-emerges in several forms in canonical
tradition, applies to all the relations between the bishops of a
region, whether those of a province, a metropolitanate, or a
patriarchate. Its practical application may be found in the synods or
the councils of a province, region or patriarchate. The fact that the
composition of a regional synod is always essentially episcopal, even
when it includes other members of the Church, reveals the nature of
synodal authority. Only bishops have a deliberative voice. The
authority of a synod is based on the nature of the episcopal ministry
itself, and manifests the collegial nature of the episcopate at the
service of the communion of Churches.
26. A synod (or council) in itself implies the participation of all the
bishops of a region. It is governed by the principle of consensus and
concord (homonoia), which is signified by eucharistic concelebration,
as is implied by the final doxology of the above-mentioned Apostolic
Canon 34. The fact remains, however, that each bishop in his pastoral
care is judge, and is responsible before God for the affairs of his own
diocese (cfr. Cyprian, Ep. 55, 21); thus he is the guardian of the
catholicity of his local Church, and must be always careful to promote
catholic communion with other Churches.
27. It follows that a regional synod or council does not have any
authority over other ecclesiastical regions. Nevertheless, the exchange
of information and consultations between the representatives of several
synods are a manifestation of catholicity, as well as of that fraternal
mutual assistance and charity which ought to be the rule between all
the local Churches, for the greater common benefit. Each bishop is
responsible for the whole Church together with all his colleagues in
one and the same apostolic mission.
28. In this manner several ecclesiastical provinces have come to
strengthen their links of common responsibility. This was one of the
factors giving rise to the patriarchates in the history of our
Churches. Patriarchal synods are governed by the same ecclesiological
principles and the same canonical norms as provincial synods.
29. In subsequent centuries, both in the East and in the West, certain
new configurations of communion between local Churches have developed.
New patriarchates and autocephalous Churches have been founded in the
Christian East, and in the Latin Church there has recently emerged a
particular pattern of grouping of bishops, the Episcopal Conferences.
These are not, from an ecclesiological standpoint, merely
administrative subdivisions: they express the spirit of communion in
the Church, while at the same time respecting the diversity of human
cultures.
30. In fact, regional synodality, whatever its contours and canonical
regulation, demonstrates that the Church of God is not a communion of
persons or local Churches cut off from their human roots. Because it is
the community of salvation and because this salvation is "the
restoration of creation" (cfr. St Irenaeus, Adv. Haer., 1, 36, 1), it
embraces the human person in everything which binds himor her to human
reality as created by God. The Church is not just a collection of
individuals; it is made up of communities with different cultures,
histories and social structures.
31. In the grouping of local Churches at the regional level,
catholicity appears in its true light. It is the expression of the
presence of salvation not in an undifferentiated universe but in
humankind as God created it and comes to save it. In the mystery of
salvation, human nature is at the same time both assumed in its
fullness and cured of what sin has infused into it by way of
self-sufficiency, pride, distrust of others, aggressiveness, jealousy,
envy, falsehood and hatred. Ecclesial koinônia is the gift by
which all humankind is joined together, in the Spirit of the risen
Lord. This unity, created by the Spirit, far from lapsing into
uniformity, calls for and thus preserves -- and, in a certain way,
enhances -- diversity and particularity.
3. The Universal Level
32. Each local Church is in communion not only with neighbouring
Churches, but with the totality of the local Churches, with those now
present in the world, those which have been since the beginning, and
those which will be in the future, and with the Church already in
glory. According to the will of Christ, the Church is one and
indivisible, the same always and in every place. Both sides confess, in
the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, that the Church is one and
catholic. Its catholicity embraces not only the diversity of human
communities but also their fundamental unity.
33. It is clear, therefore, that one and the same faith is to be
confessed and lived out in all the local Churches, the same unique
Eucharist is to be celebrated everywhere, and one and the same
apostolic ministry is to be at work in all the communities. A local
Church cannot modify the Creed, formulated by the ecumenical Councils,
although the Church ought always "to give suitable answers to new
problems, answers based on the Scriptures and in accord and essential
continuity with the previous expressions of dogmas" (Bari Document,
n.29). Equally, a local Church cannot change a fundamental point
regarding the form of ministry by a unilateral decision, and no local
Church can celebrate the Eucharist in wilful separation from other
local Churches without seriously affecting ecclesial communion. In all
of these things one touches on the bond of communion itself -- thus, on
the very being of the Church.
34. It is because of this communion that all the Churches, through
canons, regulate everything relating to the Eucharist and the
sacraments, the ministry and ordination, and the handing on (paradosis)
and teaching (didaskalia) of the faith. It is clear why in this domain
canonical rules and disciplinary norms are needed.
35. In the course of history, when serious problems arose affecting the
universal communion and concord between Churches -- in regard either to
the authentic interpretation of the faith, or to ministries and their
relationship to the whole Church, or to the common discipline which
fidelity to the Gospel requires -- recourse was made to Ecumenical
Councils. These Councils were ecumenical not just because they
assembled together bishops from all regions and particularly those of
the five major sees, Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and
Jerusalem, according to the ancient order (taxis). It was also because
their solemn doctrinal decisions and their common faith formulations,
especially on crucial points, are binding for all the Churches and all
the faithful, for all times and all places. This is why the decisions
of the Ecumenical Councils remain normative.
36. The history of the Ecumenical Councils shows what are to be
considered their special characteristics. This matter needs to be
studied further in our future dialogue, taking account of the evolution
of ecclesial structures during recent centuries in the East and the
West.
37. The ecumenicity of the decisions of a Council is recognized through
a process of reception of either long or short duration, according to
which the people of God as a whole -- by means of reflection,
discernment, discussion and prayer -- acknowledge in these decisions
the one apostolic faith of the local Churches, which has always been
the same and of which the bishops are the teachers (didaskaloi) and the
guardians. This process of reception is differently interpreted in East
and West according to their respective canonical traditions.
38. Conciliarity or synodality involves, therefore, much more than the
assembled bishops. It involves also their Churches. The former are
bearers of and give voice to the faith of the latter. The bishops'
decisions have to be received in the life of the Churches, especially
in their liturgical life. Each Ecumenical Council received as such, in
the full and proper sense, is, accordingly, a manifestation of and
service to the communion of the whole Church.
39. Unlike diocesan and regional synods, an ecumenical council is not
an "institution" whose frequency can be regulated by canons; it is
rather an "event", a kairos inspired by the Holy Spirit who guides the
Church so as to engender within it the institutions which it needs and
which respond to its nature. This harmony between the Church and the
councils is so profound that, even after the break between East and
West which rendered impossible the holding of ecumenical councils in
the strict sense of the term, both Churches continued to hold councils
whenever serious crises arose. These councils gathered together the
bishops of local Churches in communion with the See of Rome or,
although understood in a different way, with the See of Constantinople,
respectively. In the Roman Catholic Church, some of these councils held
in the West were regarded as ecumenical. This situation, which obliged
both sides of Christendom to convoke councils proper to each of them,
favoured dissentions which contributed to mutual estrangement. The
means which will allow the re-establishment of ecumenical consensus
must be sought out.
40. During the first millennium, the universal communion of the
Churches in the ordinary course of events was maintained through
fraternal relations between the bishops. These relations, among the
bishops themselves, between the bishops and their respective protoi ,
and also among the protoi themselves in the canonical order (taxis)
witnessed by the ancient Church, nourished and consolidated ecclesial
communion. History records the consultations, letters and appeals to
major sees, especially to that of Rome, which vividly express the
solidarity that koinônia creates. Canonical provisions such as
the inclusion of the names of the bishops of the principal sees in the
diptychs and the communication of the profession of faith to the other
patriarchs on the occasion of elections, are concrete expressions of
koinônia.
41. Both sides agree that this canonical taxis was recognised by all in
the era of the undivided Church. Further, they agree that Rome, as the
Church that "presides in love" according to the phrase of St Ignatius
of Antioch (To the Romans, Prologue), occupied the first place in the
taxis, and that the bishop of Rome was therefore the protos among the
patriarchs. They disagree, however, on the interpretation of the
historical evidence from this era regarding the prerogatives of the
bishop of Rome as protos , a matter that was already understood in
different ways in the first millennium.
42. Conciliarity at the universal level, exercised in the ecumenical
councils, implies an active role of the bishop of Rome, as protos of
the bishops of the major sees, in the consensus of the assembled
bishops. Although the bishop of Rome did not convene the ecumenical
councils of the early centuries and never personally presided over
them, he nevertheless was closely involved in the process of
decision-making by the councils.
43. Primacy and conciliarity are mutually interdependent. That is why
primacy at the different levels of the life of the Church, local,
regional and universal, must always be considered in the context of
conciliarity, and conciliarity likewise in the context of primacy.
Concerning primacy at the different levels, we wish to affirm the
following points:
1 Primacy at all levels is a practice firmly grounded in the canonical
tradition of the Church.
2 While the fact of primacy at the universal level is accepted by both
East and West, there are differences of understanding with regard to
the manner in which it is to be exercised, and also with regard to its
scriptural and theological foundations.
44. In the history of the East and of the West, at least until the
ninth century, a series of prerogatives was recognised, always in the
context of conciliarity, according to the conditions of the times, for
the protos or kephale at each of the established ecclesiastical levels:
locally, for the bishop as protos of his diocese with regard to his
presbyters and people; regionally, for the protos of each metropolis
with regard to the bishops of his province, and for the protos of each
of the five patriarchates, with regard to the metropolitans of each
circumscription; and universally, for the bishop of Rome as protos
among the patriarchs. This distinction of levels does not diminish the
sacramental equality of every bishop or the catholicity of each local
Church.
45. It remains for the question of the role of the bishop of Rome in
the communion of all the Churches to be studied in greater depth. What
is the specific function of the bishop of the "first see" in an
ecclesiology of koinônia and in view of what we have said on
conciliarity and authority in the present text? How should the teaching
of the first and second Vatican councils on the universal primacy be
understood and lived in the light of the ecclesial practice of the
first millennium? These are crucial questions for our dialogue and for
our hopes of restoring full communion between us.
46. We, the members of the Joint International Commission for the
Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox
Church, are convinced that the above statement on ecclesial communion,
conciliarity and authority represents positive and significant progress
in our dialogue, and that it provides a firm basis for future
discussion of the question of primacy at the universal level in the
Church. We are conscious that many difficult questions remain to be
clarified, but we hope that, sustained by the prayer of Jesus "That
they may all be one … so that the world may believe" (Jn 17, 21), and
in obedience to the Holy Spirit, we can build upon the agreement
already reached. Reaffirming and confessing "one Lord, one faith, one
baptism" (Eph 4, 5), we give glory to God the Holy Trinity, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, who has gathered us together.
* * *
[1] Orthodox participants felt it important to emphasize that the use
of the terms "the Church", "the universal Church", "the indivisible
Church" and "the Body of Christ" in this document and in similar
documents produced by the Joint Commission in no way undermines the
self-understanding of the Orthodox Church as the one, holy, catholic
and apostolic Church, of which the Nicene Creed speaks. From the
Catholic point of view, the same self-awareness applies: the one, holy,
catholic and apostolic Church 'subsists in the Catholic Church' (Lumen
Gentium, 8); this does not exclude acknowledgement that elements of the
true Church are present outside the Catholic communion.