NEWS STORY: Anglican bishops reject pope’s view of papal authority

c. 1997 Religion News Service LONDON (RNS) _ Anglican bishops of the Church of England, in a formal response to Pope John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical on Christian unity, have taken issue with the pontiff’s view that the teaching authority of the Christian church is centered in the office of the bishop of Rome. Instead, […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

LONDON (RNS) _ Anglican bishops of the Church of England, in a formal response to Pope John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical on Christian unity, have taken issue with the pontiff’s view that the teaching authority of the Christian church is centered in the office of the bishop of Rome.

Instead, they said, that authority belongs to the whole body of the church.”We consider a living teaching authority witnessing to and interpreting the faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds to be essential for the authentic proclamation of the gospel to each generation,”they wrote in their 22-page document,”May They All Be One.””We believe that this authority belongs to the body of the church as a whole, and that the discernment of the faith once delivered to the saints is a function of the whole body in which all the faithful in each particular church have a part to play at every level,”the document added.


John Paul’s encyclical,”Et Unum Sint,”is considered his major statement on ecumenical relations. In it, he offered to open dialogue on the role of the the papacy but also continued to insist on its primacy in Christianity.

In their response, the Church of England bishops said they regretted the the encyclical made few references to ecumenical councils of the early church and to other conciliar forms of consultation and discernment in Christianity’s history.”As ARCIC I (the first Anglican-Roman Catholic international dialogue) pointed out, a serious imbalance may occur when either primacy or conciliarity is emphasized at the expense of the other,”the English bishops said.”This danger is increased when churches have been separated from one another. … In the Church of England and other Anglican churches the principle of conciliarity is firmly embedded in constitutional forms whereby bishops, clergy and laity all play a part in the governance of the church at every level.” On the place of Mary in Christian faith and devotion, the bishops pointed out that”Anglicans have reservations if and when high authority”such as the pope declares that”truths, beliefs or devotional practices that many believers do not see to be demanded by Holy Scripture or required by the biblically rooted tradition inherited from the ancient church”are among the”most essential elements”of the church.

The comment appeared to refer to the two Marian dogmas of Mary’s immaculate conception, defined in 1854, and her bodily assumption into heaven, promulgated in 1950. It could also refer to the move to have the pope declare Mary a”co-redemptrix”with Jesus.”We welcome the pope’s injunction `not to impose any burden beyond that which is strictly necessary,’ and believe that his authority could be enhanced if this principle were seen to be applicable to this question,”the Anglican bishops said.

They also expressed their”sadness”that the Roman Catholic Church discipline did not allow Catholics to receive the sacraments from Anglican priests.”We believe that urgent and serious consideration of this discipline is required in the light of developments since the publication of the papal bull Apostolicae Curae in 1896″_ which declared Anglican priestly orders”absolutely null and utterly void.”The final report of ARCIC I and the official responses of the two churches to it had set the bull’s arguments in a new context, they stated.

On the issue of authority in the church, the bishops said the present Roman Catholic understanding of the primacy of the bishop of Rome created”serious obstacles”to church unity.”The claim (of the First Vatican Council in 1869-70) that the Bishop of Rome has by divine institution ordinary, immediate and universal jurisdiction over the whole church is seen by some as a threat to the integrity of the episcopal college and to the apostolic authority of the bishops,”they said.

MJP END NOWELL

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