wfn.org | Theologian heartened by PC(USA)-Catholic talks

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Note #6555 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

7-June-2001
01199

Theologian heartened by PC(USA)-Catholic talks

Professor says churches may achieve "a differentiated unity"

by John Filiatreau

LOUISVILLE - A theologian who took part in recent discussions between the
Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Roman Catholic Church told the General
Assembly Council (GAC) on June 6 that she senses "a new climate of
willingness to converse" on the part of the Catholics, and a possibility
that the two churches can reach a "differentiated consensus" on key
doctrinal matters.

Anna Case Winters, an associate professor of theology at McCormick
Theological Seminary, said the PC(USA) delegation that visited the Vatican
in March found more common ground between the churches than they had
expected, and felt that the Catholic officials they met were "friendly to
our ecumenical endeavors ... and ready to talk with us" about important
theological issues.

The conversations began in December when a group of Roman Catholic
ecumenical officials visited the Presbyterian Center in Louisville and
invited the PC(USA) to send a similar delegation to the Vatican.

Winters said the "chief sticking points" in the discussions had to do with
the exercise of church authority, the infallibility of the Pope and the
doctrine of "universal (Papal) jurisdiction":

* The Catholic church employs an executive, hierarchical model of authority,
while the Presbyterian process is "corporate, conciliatory and collegial";

* the Roman church asserts that the Pope is inerrant in some of his official
statements, while Reformed theology holds that "all councils ... may err,"
that humans are "fallen, fragile and fallible," and that "God alone is God";

* and the Catholic church puts "ministry of oversight" in the hands of the
Pope and the bishops, while Protestants believe all authority invested in
human institutions and ecclesiastical traditions is subordinate to the
authority of Scripture, as illuminated by the Holy Spirit.

Winters said it might be instructive to think of the Catholic church as "an
absolute monarchy," while thinking of the Reformed church "more in terms of
representation," as in a republic.

She said the inter-church conversations actually included "not as much talk
about doctrine as about shared ministries," and identified significant areas
of relative agreement between the churches - "an imperfect unity" - on
matters including Baptism, the Eucharist and Christian marriage.

Winters said the Catholic representatives engaged in "respectful listening"
and evidenced "trainability" and even "willingness to be corrected." She
said the talks have given rise to a dream of a future Vatican Council -
"Vatican III" - that would be a "universal church council," and also to a
dream of "a healing of memory" brought about by a mutual repudiation of such
past "excesses" as Protestants' terming the Papacy a "synagogue of Satan."

In one respect, Winters said, the PC(USA) delegation didn't see any signs of
progress: The Catholic delegation, like the Catholic hierarchy, is entirely
male. "We've a way to go there," she said, while acknowledging that the
Catholic church has begun to acknowledge women's "ministries short of
ordination."

Asked what comes next in the dialogue, Winters said that, while the
Presbyterian group is an "ongoing team," the two delegations "are not
scheduled for a next round" of talks.

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