Reacting to "Clarification on the Doctrine of the Church"     July 2007 Click square for index July 10, 2007, the Vatican felt it necessary to issue a document to clarify some misunderstandings around the outcome of the 2nd Vatican Council back in 1963 (“Vatican II”). The document and the need for it seem unhelpful and are puzzles to me. For example the document feels a need to affirm “the full identity of the Church of Christ with the Catholic Church.” But goes on to quote Vatican II as saying: "It follows that these separated churches and Communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation. In fact the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as instruments of salvation, whose value derives from that fullness of grace and of truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church." Vatican II for me was not about such details of doctrine. Rather it was about calling together those self identifying as followers of the way of Jesus Christ and encouraging them to cooperate in uncovering and following that way in the day to day messy world of gutsy ethical issues, politics and nation states. As such, Vatican II issued an appealing, reconciling and fundamentally religious message. The powerful outcome from Vatican II was enabling Roman Catholics to work together with other churches and church people on practical matters of concern in the politics of life - like refugee affairs or war and peace. My ecumenical work as servant of the Inter-Church Committee for Refugees was a direct result of Vatican II. That work gave me insights into people of faith which oblige me to view issues of dogma and doctrine as unhelpful, divisive and, ultimately, irrelevant to the way of Jesus Christ. Moreover, that work carried me beyond the Christian faith to cooperating with other religions so that I now view dogma about the particularities of a faith tradition as distant from the fundamentals of the major human faith traditions as well as the way of Jesus Christ. Whether I will be “saved” or belong to the correct church organization for salvation is, frankly, not where I’m at. I have some sympathy for the Vatican and indeed other church organizations which keep faith traditions alive and, being human organizations, inevitably have some of the foibles that go with the species. Several major faith traditions transcend ethnic or cultural boundaries and so lack the simple nativist appeal of ethnicity as a bond. They tend to resort to requiring allegiance to dogma around their distinctive features which can get rather close to marketing a brand name and its benefits. Most churches have earthen feet and ties to politics. Many enjoy special forms of incorporation in, and linkage to, particular nation States. The Vatican is a State and member of the United Nations. It seems these worldly bodies are necessary for the occasional better moments which, like Vatican II, unleash new more deeply religious forces within the human family. For me, Vatican II needs no clarification. To play a part in humbly seeking, with others, ways for greater justice, mercy, peace and a future for the human species in this scary messy world is enough of a reward! TOP   Click:

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