28.01.2004 – Professor A. Carrasco Rouco – Madrid – Theological-canonical principles of advisory bodies
The development of the Church’s advisory bodies represents one of the results of the renewal introduced by the Second Vatican Council. Their foundations are to be found in the essence of the Counciliar idea of the Church seen as a reality of communion. A number of theological principles can be identified which are fundamental for a full understanding.
Hence Communion, founded on love for the Saviour, becomes the ontological dimension of the new human being, who after baptism, exists in Christ; and by virtue of this sacrament, communion will also be the law and the form of the Christian existence.
1.2. This represents the foundation of a second lesson characteristic of Counciliar ecclesiology: the primary statute for the members of the Church is that of the Christian believer; hence, there exists a fundamental uniformity of dignity and actions in these two teachings.
The equal dignity of all Christian believers is rooted in the common belonging to Christ, who died and resurrected for the forgiveness of sins and the full redemption of each human being. The greater dignity of the faithful has its roots in the immense love God has, which is the foundation for the greatness of His vocation and His goal. Acknowledging this, to glory only in Christ and not in oneself, means discovering and deeply loving also the common dignity of all Christians.
This equality also invests actions, participation in the mission entrusted by the Lord. The construction of the Body of Christ for the world’s redemption, is in fact the common objective, whatever the ministry entrusted by God may be; on the other hand, charity, the Holy Spirit’s gift, is also the principle that renders fruitful each Christian’s service in any condition.
These perspectives are expressed in acknowledging that all Christian believers, thanks to the sacrament of Baptism, receive participation in Christ’s tria munera – priestly, prophetic and regal – and in Jesus Christ’s life and mission in the world.
1.3. The nature of ecclesial communion cannot however be adequately understood without a third theological principle: through the sacrament of Holy Orders, some believers receive a participation in these tria munera, different from the common one not in degree or intensity, but ontologically, and this provides them with the capability to in some way represent Christ Himself as the Head of the Body. These believers are called upon to achieve a service that is inescapable for the Church’s existence in history, as a reality of unity in the faith and in communion, gathered around the authentic announcement of the Word of God and the legitimate celebration of the sacraments.
The equality of the faithful is not in contradiction with acknowledging that ecclesial communion possesses a hierarchical structure according to God’s will, God who wished to have the presence of ministers in this communion, the successors of the Apostles. Their presence in fact, does not deny the equality of all Christians; on the contrary it keeps alive the memory of the fact that their common dignity and mission are based on Jesus Christ, not on themselves or on their projects.
In this manner therefore, the Episcopal – priestly- ministry renders Christ present in the Church as He who precedes all others, He who opened the way for reconciliation and unity with God, He who is the truth and is life for all, and from Whom we all permanently receive this.
2.1. Advisory Bodies paradigmatically manifest the Church’s communional nature with all its fundamental characteristics.
These Bodies are first of all an institutional expression of the existential dimension of communion, which is not a mere spiritual option but rather a reflection of the Church’s profound identity understood as a mystery of unity in Christ. Christians feel the need for a similar ecclesial environment, alive and rich in interpersonal relations, in view of the knowledge and growth of faith, for Christian fulfilment in life, to bear witness to the Gospel when facing the world.
It does not therefore appear adequate to situate these bodies outside this framework of communion, according to secular political models, as forms of articulating or distributing power; for examples in the manner used in parliaments. This would distort its real meaning and its own dynamics, which are not in search of power, but rather attempt to provide a shape and undertake adequate actions for the life of the Church in concrete circumstances.
2.2. In fact, participation of the faithful in the synodal institution has its origins in the common participation in Christ’s tria munera; therefore this participation is called upon to be the expression of their Christian lives.
This means that each one contributes first of all with their own personal testimony, rooted in Communion and with Communion as its objective. Although safeguarding the difference involved in the bishop’s pastoral responsibility and that of his presbytery, everyone is a witness, because everyone speaks of what they have seen and heard in virtue of their belonging to Christ and to the communion of His Church.
For this reason, the members of these Bodies cannot be considered as representatives elected to defend the positions or opinions of different parties. They are obviously elected with the objective of making manifest the Church’s real life in its richness of experiences; this however means being elected to bear witness to the faith, to their Christian lives.
On the other hand, the existence of a "testimony" is not possible without the free involvement of the person. Christian testimony is always a gesture made possible by one’s own freedom, when one runs the risk of speaking personally, out of gratitude, loyalty and love for the Lord and for one’s neighbour. In each testimony in fact, one exposes one’s own heart, acknowledging in front of humankind the truth and love that move one’s own existence, the reasons for one’s hope.
Hence testimony is inevitably personal, unique and irreplaceable. In fact the word that gushes from the heart of each believer can only be truthfully pronounced only by him. Each person’s testimony is a free gift, richness belonging to all, which exists only thanks to the sincerity and freedom of a heart moved by grace, by the memory of the Lord’s gifts, often received from the hands of the brothers in faith.
In this perspective, the good working of a synodal institution presupposes the real participation of its members, who are not called upon to only share a simple opinion, but their entire person, in the awareness of being part of a profound communion founded in the Lord, so this same unity may be made manifest in life’s real circumstances and those of the Church’s mission.
This once again implies that one’s presence within these Bodies cannot be understood in terms of power battles, but only in terms of belonging to the ecclesial Communion, discovering their own expression in these canonical institutions.
Advisory Bodies also represent a premises in which the necessary participation of all members to the mission Christ has entrusted to His Church is made manifest. The correct announcement of who the Lord is cannot in fact take place in a suitable manner without the presence and free word of all the faithful; in the absence of this testimony, without the Christian experience lived out in the real world, the Word of the Gospel does not appear fully credible as the path to real life and redemption.
In this manner, these Bodies allow us to also see that the true subject of this mission consists in God’s People in the unity of the charismas, ministers and services; that it is not a task entrusted exclusively to one category of believers; on the contrary it needs the living presence and unity of all Christians. Hence for example the Counciliar declaration on the common participation of the faithful in the tria munera prevents from identifying the bishop as the only subject of the Church’s mission.
One therefore understands the need for concrete expressions of the ecclesial communion also in terms of life and of an adequate exercising of the hierarchical ministry. In reality the Advisory Bodies corresponding to the Church’s characteristics and mission, also provide a contribution to fulfilling the bishop’s mission as the visible principle of the unity of his particular Church.
2.3. Advisory Bodies, in virtue of their own existing, already represent a canonical acknowledgement of the Church’s nature and life as a reality involving a hierarchic communion.
These profound dynamics are translated into two canonical institutions: the advisory vote of the faithful and the bishop’s own power. Between these two elements there exists circularity, the expression of the communion that is the foundation for both.
The advisory vote is intended to provide a juridical expression for the dynamics of testimony belonging to the Christian believers. It would therefore be a mistake to interpret this, within the framework of the logic of power, as a limitation of one’s owns decision-making rights or an exclusion from the world of ecclesial power.
The truth of the faith, in fact, cannot be determined by a decision taken by human will, even in the event that it may represent the majority, but rather by the fact that one acknowledges this truth and one ascertains the presence and by the fact that it is born witness to.
A Christian testimony however, free and heartfelt in the manner in which it is offered, does not represent a contribution destined to any power battle, it does not wish to subjugate nor can it be subjugated to the imposition of the opinion of others; on the contrary it tries to meet testimonies made by others, so that this Communion in Christ in which the word and mission of each person have their profound origin and so that the promise of fulfilment may once again emerge. The testimony of the believer does not expect to define in a self-referential manner the truth of the faith and of the Church; on the contrary, it expects to find, in the unity of the Church, fraternal correction and a path of growth within the truth. This because ecclesial communion, as a concrete and living human environment, is the only rule suitable for a testimony of faith, that cannot be subjected in any manner to a simple mechanism of majorities and minorities, the legitimacy of which would arise from democratic process, but not from the witnessed faith.
The dynamics of unity would not be possible without the presence of the bishop, who is the minister and guarantor of the truth of God’s Word and sacramental communion. The practice of his ministry as the principle of the particular Church’s unity is irreplaceable, so that believers remain bound to the truth of the Gospel and to the reality of the Church’s universal communion. His presence cannot be perceived simply as that of the moderator of a debate, because his mission consists in bearing "authentic" witness to the Gospel, provided with his own authority, sufficient for making possible everyone’s permanence in the unity of faith and communion. In canonical terms one would speak of a power, a jurisdiction, rooted theologically in his particular sacramental participation in the triple munus of Christ, Head and Shepherd of His People.
This of course does not mean that the bishop should not experience the whole Church’s dynamics of communion. In fact, his remaining within the hierarchical communion as a member of the Episcopal college, whose leader is Peter’s successor, is a condition of his exercising his ministry.
The canonical existence of advisory bodies also shows that the bishop is called upon to fulfil his mission in the particular Church according to the law of communion. Effectively the Episcopal ministry does not remotely diminish the meaning of the participation of every believer in the Church’s life and mission; on the contrary, in virtue of the very essence of his ministry, the bishop is called upon to strengthen, promote and safeguard – correcting if necessary according to the truth of the Gospel – the experience and testimony of faith of all the members of his Church in the world. Furthermore, not only is the participation of each and everyone necessary for fulfilling the Church’s mission, but it appears also very convenient for the bishop himself. It will in fact reflect positively on his announcing of the Gospel, making his announcement of the Gospel more incisive as regards to the problems afflicting society and humankind, closer to the path followed by his faithful, more credible finally in rendering visible the existence and unique value of the unity experienced by Christians.
The advisory bodies represent a unique means for clearly providing, for the entire particular Church, visibility of the seriousness of this unity experienced by all Christians; one therefore understands their importance for the modern Church that experiences the need, ad intra and ad extra, for an authentic spirituality of communion. One can in the same way understand the extraordinary importance of the advisory vote, as a real form of cooperation in forming a judgement that, with the bishop’s authority, guides the lives of the faithful and the Church to the Gospel’s truth.
Conclusions
The development of synodal institutions emphasises a number of fundamental elements of the Counciliar Teachings as regards to God’s People: their communional nature, the equal dignity of the Christianity belonging to all and the common call to a mission, the personal ministry of the Apostles’ successors. The perfect running of these bodies also presupposes the existence of a Christian and ecclesial experience permitting the understanding and putting into practice of this Counciliar lesson. It would instead be a serious mistake to interpret them following a parliamentary logic of power, in which the representatives of a number of groups would attempt to impose their position on others; this formulation would in fact result in profound confusion on the Church’s real nature and would end up by damaging the authentic Christian experience, which is an experience of communion.