A speech given by Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, president of the Vatican Secretariat for Promoting Christian Uni­ ty, during his recent visit to the United States ap- ; pears on these pages. In another address he spoke of the "passion for uni­ ty. " Addressing a May 5 luncheon of the National Association of Diocesan Ecumenical Officers, he spoke at one point of the evidences of this passion among recent popes, in­ cluding Pope John Paul II. "Pope John XXIII im­ pressed the world in call­ irig all Christians to full unity in the church of Christ, and all peoples of t!Je world to peace," said Willebrands. This pope "addressed_ the world in a new way, with openness and trust. His passion for the unity of the followers of Jesus Christ led him to convoke an ecumenical council of the church and to put the question of Christian unity at the heart of the Second ( Vatican Council. It led him also to take the un­ Cardinal Willebrands precedented step of creating the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Uni­ ty, entrusting to it one of Vatican II' s Ecclesiology his main intentions, the very passion of his heart, responding to the words of Jesus 'that all may be of Communion one."' Willebrands continued: "This sentiment is express­ What did the Second Vatican Council ing that Christ's one church "goes beyond the ed jn many ways in the mean when it said the one true church of Christ visible limits of" the Catholic Church, he said. ministry of Pope Paul VI. "subsists in" the Catholic Church, rejecting wor­ It also made clear that "outside the Catholic It is revealed in a par­ ding that the church of Christ "is" the Catholic Church there exist many elements of sanctifica­ ticular way in his relation­ ship with the ecumenical Church? This question is fundamental to the tion and truth which are the gifts proper to the patriarch Athenagoras I. council's ecclesiology, Cardinal Johannes church and therefore true ecclesial elements .... The pope and the Willebrands, president of the Vatican Secretariat 'Subsistit in' thus allows emphasizing both the patriarch had met [n for Promoting Christian Unity, told the National conviction that the one and genuine church of Jerusalem, two pilgrims to Workshop for Christian Unity May 5 in Atlan­ God is found in the Catholic Church and the cer­ the city of the passion, ta. In his speech - which he also gave May 8 titude that it nonetheless extends, though lack­ death and resurrection of in Washington, D.C. - Willebrands recalled the ing its fullness, beyond the Catholic Church." the Lord. They prayed council fat hers' debate. There was no intention The text of the speech follows. together, saying alter­ to break with earlier doctrine, he said; rather, natively the verses of the 17th chapter of St. John's encouraged by frequent relations with other Gospel, the patriarch say­ Christians and the spirit of the ecumenical move­ The words subsistit in by which the Con­ ing his verses in Greek, ment, the council fathers were looking for "a stitution on the Church Lumen Gentium defines the pope his verses in development and deepening of the fundamental the presence of the church of Christ in the Latin. Later Pope Paul VI thought" of earlier doctrine. Thus the formula Catholic Church are of fundamental importance said to me: I never im­ "subsists in" resulted not only from for understanding the ecclesiology of the Second agined that from a simple developments in ecclesiology, but also a ''parallel Vatican Council, especially in relation to the meeting such a deep reflection on the place in the body of Christ of Catholic principles of ecumenism. The words are friendship could arise. Christians not living in communion with the found in No. 8 of the constitution and in No. Roman see, " he said. With the change of 4 of the Decree on Ecumenism. Both documents ► language, the council went from identifying the were promulgated by Pope Paul VI Nov. 21, church of Christ with the Catholic Church to say- 1964. More than 25 years later it still matters to 27 recall their intention and meaning, and stress the spirit of the ecumenical movement. For this their importance. reason the meaning of the expression subsistit in Given that Lumen Gentium is the basic cannot be examined merely by considering ◄ text for the ecclesiology of the council, it is im­ Lumen Gentium. This is certainly the basic text, "Patriarch Athenagoras portant to recall the maturing of the formula but it was given further explanation in the decree asked for a dialogue of subsistit in and to clarify its intention and Unitatis Redintegratio. Pope Paul VI, pro­ r love. This was not a meaning. mulgating the two texts Nov. 21 , 1964, referred superficial idea, just in The words subsistit in did not occur in the to this point: "La medesima dottrina de/la order to have a friendly approach to the dialogue. Lumen Gentium schema distributed to the Chiesa ... integrata tale dottrina dalle dichiara­ In reality he touched the fathers in 1963. This schema repeated (in its zioni contenute nello schema 'de 0ecumenismo, ' deepest level of our being Paragraph 7) the substance of the preparatory parimente approvato da questo Concilio" (The and of the church of Jesus commission's text of November 1962, though same doctrine of the church .. .integrated this Christ. The dialogue of love meant recognizing modifying it on some important points. The one same doctrine by the statements contained in the each other as the church church, which the creeds call " one, holy, catholic schema De Oecumenismo, also approved by the of Christ. Living together and apostolic," "is the Catholic Church con­ council) (AAS, 56, 1964, 1012-13). in this love we make stituted and ordered as a society in this world. ' ' 1 It is clear that, at the very least, in the im­ theology and we build uni­ ty according to St. Paul's The 1962 text had said "only the Roman mediate context of the council this change from 'veritatem f acientes in Catholic (Church) is rightly called the church." est to subsistit in was conditioned not only by caritate, ' 'building the The dropping of the adjective Roman is the ecclesiastical study of elements of the church truth in love, we are to noteworthy. or traces of the church. There was ,a parallel grow up in every way into When the subsistit in appeared with the reflection on the place in the body of Christ of him who is the head, into Christ' (Eph. 4:15). It was 1964 draft, it was explained thus in the relatio Christians not living in communion with the this passion for unity that justifying the changes introduced by the doctrinal Roman see. This aimed at opening up somewhat led Pope Paul VI, together commission: '' Subsistit in is used instead of est the position of Mystici Corporis on membership with the ecumenical as an expression more in harmony with what is of the church, keeping its essential insight but patriarch, to take the said elsewhere about ecclesial elements. " 2 Close interpreting it by a theological reading in an historic step at the closing days of the council, on study of the speeches in the au/a and of remarks ecumenical context. Dec. 7, 1965, of issuing sent in in writing shows that the change from est Certainly Mystici Corporis, after having simultaneously in Rome to subsistit in did not arouse a "wave of reac­ identified the true -church with the Roman and Constantinople the tions" announced by one journalist. (The ques­ Church (No. 13), went on: "Only those are really common declaration aimed at erasing from the tion of collegiality and how it fits in with the to be numbered among members of the church memory and midst of the ministry of the bishop of Rome was already at­ who have been baptized and profess the true Catholic and Orthodox tracting more attention.) faith and have not wretchedly separated from the ( Churches the excom­ The strongest opposition to subsistit in structure of the body or because of grave trans­ \ munications of 1054, and was undoubtedly that of Bishop (Luigi) Carli, gressions withdrawn from lawful authority. " hoping to start a process that could lead eventually which should be quoted: "The words subsistit And Pius XII based this view on incorporation to full communion of in are not acceptable, for they would suggest that in Christ himself, whose body the church is. But faith , concord and the church of Christ and the Catholic Church are this link with Christ, with the conviction that sacramental life between two distinct things, of which the former subsists sanctifying grace, which can be given to others Catholics and Orthodox. "I think also of Pope in the latter as in a subject; we should simply and besides Catholics, implies of its very nature real John Paul ll. I believe more truly say est because the sources say this.'' 3 communion with the Lord Jesus - above all that a passion for unity Others questioned whether the expression sub­ where the sacrament of baptism has been receiv­ characterizes his mind and sistit in adequately conveyed the commission's ed - would logically suggest enlarging in some ministry. Again and again intention. 4 But the commission stuck to its he called ecumenism 'a way the field of incorporation. The encyclical pastoral priority of the choice, and said why: itself spoke of those who "are oriented toward church.' A journalist once " Nineteen fathers propose that we should the mystical body of the Redeemer by some un­ said to me: 'These are on­ write 'subsistit integrally' in the Catholic Church. conscious desire and resolve" and hence, without ly words. ' I respond by Another 25 want to add 'subsists by divine right. ' being visibly incorporated into the (Catholic) saying, first of all, that a 6 word of the pope, express­ Again 13 others want est instead of subsistit in. Church are nonetheless "in grace. " Long ed publicly and officially One, however, proposes consistit instead of sub­ before, Clement XI had rejected Quesnel's posi­ to the Roman Curia, in­ sistit. Obviously there are two tendencies, one tion on "outside the church no grace is dicates his policy. And, se­ which would somewhat broaden the proposition, granted. " 1 Where there is grace there is union cond, he repeats it on the occasion of his pastoral the other which would like to restrict it. For this with Christ; and all union with Christ brings one visits in different coun­ reason the commission, after long discussion, within the scope of the church. tries. Moreover, he con­ chose subsistit in, a solution agreed upon by all It would be easy to trace the slow develop­ tinually finds significant present.'' s ment of theological reflection on this point,_but occasions to meet with The doctrinal commission then was it is better to go straight to the council itself, heads and members of other churches and ec­ unanimous. This should be noted. following the resounding speech in the au/a by clesial communities. Let While recognizing the importance of the Cardinal (Achille) Lienart on Dec. l , 1962. me call to mind only his change of terminology from est to subsistit in, Already the adumbratio schematis of the Ger­ visits to Constantinople, to I think it must be said that the council intended man bishops and theologians (December 1962, no break with the doctrine of the encyclical February 1963), basing itself on the various ► Mystici Corporis. The council fathers were, elements which make up the church of God - rather, looking for a development and deepen­ profession of faith, sacraments, hierarchical ing of the fundamental thought of the encyclical. structure - distinguished between perfect and The deepening had been much encouraged by imperfect incorporation. It stated: " According 28 frequent relations with other Christians and by to their need for these three elements, men are in different degrees united to the church, so much is the Catholic Church ruled by the pope and the so that the title of member in the language of to­ college of bishops, stretching also to all men of ◄ day's church should not simply be denied to those good will who by faith and baptism are united who are only imperfectly united to it." 8 in Christ and are thus called or destined to belong Canterbury, to the The propositio schematis of the bishops of fully, in a visible unity, to the one church of Lutheran parish in Rome, 1 1 to the World Council of r Chile and other regions of Latin America Christ. ' ' Churches in Geneva. The (January 1963) set out to identify the explicitly Others asked that the encyclical Mystici recent day of prayer for ecclesial elements to be found among the Chris­ Corporis be not interpreted in a stricter way, and peace in Assisi was also an tians who ''by divergences in faith or by defect that it be said that, besides Catholics, "other bap­ important ecumenical tized adults who by God's special grace keep the event - for the Christians of communion with the Roman pontiff are who were there, as well as separated from the Catholic Church." It then spiritual life in their hearts can be said to be, in having other important spoke of an incorporation "by full visibility" and a wider and incomplete sense, members of the dimensions of an inter­ of another achieved "not yet perfectly visible." church, even living members. " 12 religious nature, involving For "as a community at once visible and mystical, We cannot fail to note that all this belongs other religions of the world. In many different the church allows of its members being incor­ in a "broadening" of Pope Pius XII's doctrine settings I have seen and porated in various analogous ways which express - which nevertheless is not rejected as a whole can witness to the its visible character and join people to Christ by - thanks to a deeper grasp of the Pauline vi- ecumenical passion and grace with greater or less perfection. " 9 sion. 13 A short phrase proposed by the German engagement of the Holy bishops and the Scandinavian episcopal con­ Father. OJ course, his love Note finally that both the schema by cer­ Jor unity can never be set tain Italian fathers (January 1963) and that by ference gives the crux of the whole argument: apart from his love for some French bishops and theologians (January "No one can be Christ's without belonging to the truth. On the contrary, it 1963) dwell on the conjunctio between the church." 14 But the body of Christ is the church. binds him to 'bear witness separated brethren and 'the church gathered in in­ The conclusion is that whoever belongs to Christ to the truth' (Jn. 18:37). This identifies his action tegral faith and communion with the bishop of belongs to the church, and hence that the limits with the intention of Rome. They spoke particularly of "a certain con­ of the church are coextensive with those of Christ, with the passion of junction in the Holy Spirit, who not only acts in belonging to Christ. This seems to me the the Lord for the unity of Catholics by gifts and graces, but is also at work dogmatic reflection behind the transition from est his followers." in those others, so that all Christ's disciples are to subsistit in as it emerges from the council itself. incorporated in the church in Christ's own As far as the discussion of Lumen Gen­ For a past text in way."'o tium is concerned, in the conscience of the bishops Origins of current interest, Many fathers touched on this point in the chief reason inducing the commission to adopt see "Doctrinal Congrega­ speeches or written submissions. I quote only that subsistit in seems to have been a reflection on the tion Criticizes Brazilian Theologian's Book, " a of Bishop (Leon) Eichinger, who seems to me to depth of the mystery of grace. The inclusive in­ statement of the congrega­ have expressed the climate of the discussion: sight of Mystici Corporis, somewhat refined, was tion regarding a work by ''On the subject of who forms part of the thus the texture on which the doctrine of Vatican Franciscan Father Leonar­ church. From its context the schema might sug­ II was constructed. The idea of the "elements of do Baff, the book gest that only those belong to the church - the the church,'' which the commission invoked to "Church: Charism and Power" (vol. 14, pp. body of Christ - who live in visible unity with justify the formula and which was to be treated 683/f). At one point, the the pope. (The schema in question is that of 1963.) more fully in Paragraph 15 before becoming the congregation criticizes "Criticism. To say that the Catholic object of a large part of Unitatis Redintegratio, Bo/f's interpretation of Church, the sole church of Christ, does not ex­ was viewed in this perspective of the mystery of the words of the Second Vatican Council, "subsistit tend beyond its visible limits contradicts several grace. It is important to make this clear. It shows in . " "Turning upside truths assumed in the schema: that the change from est to subsistit in has a bear­ down the meaning of the "1. It is said that the church of Christ ex­ ing far beyond the strictly institutional. It has to council text on the tends in some fashion over all men, from the first do with grasping the implications of belonging to church's subsistence lies at chosen to the last. Christ. The standpoint is not juridical but the base of L. Bo/f's ec­ clesiological relativism, " "2. It is said that 'where the church is, Christological. The problem of subsistit in can­ the congregation conclud­ there is the Spirit.' This is a quotation from St. not be properly understood from any other ed (p. 685!). lrenaeus which goes on, 'Where the Spirit is, there standpoint. The congregation said a is the church.' Now the Spirit and grace are also To keep within the strictly ecclesiological "relativizing concept of the church stands at the given to Christians in good faith who are compass, it should be remembered that the basis of the radical juridically separated from Rome. Western tradition has for centuries implicitly criticisms directed at the "3. It is said implicitly that Christians in entertained the certainty that the church of God hierarchic structure of the good faith, though separated from Rome, can be goes beyond the limits of the Catholic Church in Catholic Church. In order saved. Now only the church of Christ which is communion with the see of Rome. But it has not to justify it, L. Baff ap­ peals to the constitution the Catholic Church is the ark of salvation. advanced the theory. We need to bring up here 'Lumen Gentium ' .... From "4. Baptism and the eucharist, received the whole history of relations with the Eastern Or­ the council's famous state­ with faith and charity by a Christian in good faith thodox Churches. ment, 'Haec ecc/esia (sc. separated from Rome, unite him or her to the Indeed, in its official documents the unica Christi ec- c/esia) ... subsistit in ecclesia body of Christ. But where the body of Christ is, Catholic Church has never ceased since the rup­ Catholica' ('this church there is the church. ture to consider the Oriental communities as (that is, the sole church of "5 . ... (l)t is said that everyone baptized authentic churches - and that since Gregory Christ) ... subsists in the is subject to the laws of the church. Now no one VII. 15 Nonetheless it recognized - often with bit­ Catholic Church'), he is subject to the laws of a society to which he does ter regret - that those churches were cut off from derives a thesis which is exactly the contrary to the not belong. her and, to use the categories of those days, so authentic meaning of the "Proposed amendment: Could we not say different from those of an ecclesiology of com­ ► that the church, 'mother and mistress of all men,' munion, "were no longer within her bosom." 29 They were dissidentes. There do then exist chur­ munities which explicitly confess God in Jesus ◄ ches outside the boundaries of the Catholic Christ - is this not already to talk of the church? council text, for he af- Church (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, 3). The open­ firms: 'In fact it (sc. the Does not the council say that these are elementa sole church of Christ) may ing statement of the document drawn up at ecclesiae Christi propria? (Lumen Gentium, 8; also be present in other Florence in 1439 for union between Greeks and Unitatis Redintegratio, 3, 23). r,· -~. Christian churches. ' But Latins thus acquires its full meaning: we· can thus understand the impact of the council had chosen the "Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be Cardinal Lienart's speech, which gave the tone word 'subsistit ' - subsists - exactly in order to glad. For the wall which -separated the Western to the entire council debate on the subject: make clear that one sole and Eastern churches has been taken away, and "Formulas and ways of speaking of the 'subsistence ' of the true peace and harmony restored. Christ, the cor­ church which corrupt the mystery of it must at church exists, whereas out­ nerstone, who made each into one, has bound the all costs be avoided. Thus, for example, the rela­ side her visible structure wall by the strongest bond of charity and peace, tion of the Roman Church to the mystical body, only 'elementa ecclesiae' - elements of church - making it a joining and containing force for their identity, must never be stated as though the exist; these - being perpetual unity, after the enduring mists of mystical body is totally confined within the elements of the same sadness, after the black and horrid night of long bounds of the Roman church. The Roman church church - tend and con­ drawn-out quarrels, the serene light of the union is truly the body of Christ, but does not exhaust duct toward the Catholic Church .... The Decree on desired by all has dawned." that body. Ecumenism expresses the The church of God has been divided into "On the contrary, all who are justified same doctrine ... and it was two parts. But the division has not cut deep, it belong to the mystical body of Christ, since no restated precisely in the has not touched unity in Christ, the unity of chari­ grace is given to men which is not the grace of declaration 'Mysterium ty and peace, that alliance of perfect unity which Christ, and no one is justified without being in­ Ecclesiae. " ' Some theologians who has banished darkness and bathed us in a new corporated in Christ. Yet nobody belongs to the heard Cardinal Johannes light. Roman church except those who have been pro­ Willebrands' address said On the basis of that traditio, it was possi­ perly baptized into it and have not cast off the it was reasonable to ble to see that a strict identification of God's ties of faith and communion. assume that he was responding to the doctrinal church with the Catholic Church took no account "The mystical body therefore extends congregation. In a May 18 of what the Catholic Church itself in practice much further than the Roman church militant. National Catholic News witnessed to. It embraces also the church suffering in purgatory Service report, writer Jerry This led to recognizing an area of ec­ and the church triumphant in heaven. Filteau explained: clesiality, resting on very deep sacramental foun­ "And what shall I say of separated Chris­ "Several theologians said later that dations, marked by a genuine apostolic identity tians, who nevertheless by valid baptism are Wil/ebrands' position was and carrying essential elements of ecclesial ex­ 'buried in Christ' so that in him they may rise to very different from a 1985 istence, which nevertheless had not maintained supernatural life and remain with him? I am sad , commentary .. . by the full communion with the Catholic Church ("the that those outside the Roman church do not en- {, Vatican's doctrinal congregation. Western church"). joy with us all the supernatural gifts of which she "In a March 1985 state­ In these circumstances, to state without is the dispenser, but I would not dare to say that ment ... criticizing ... Father qualification that the church of God in this world they do not belong in any way to the mystical Leonardo Eoff, the doc­ est the Catholic Church amounted to restricting body of Christ, even though they are not incor­ trinal congregation had the meaning of the word church in a way which porated in the Catholic Church. It is clear then argued that the 'authentic meaning' of the conciliar contradicted ecclesial practice. Moreover, how that our church, though it is the visible manifesta­ texts in question was that could you cut off from the church, without break­ tion of the mystical body of Jesus Christ, cannot 'only elements of the ing with the traditional meaning of the word, be absolutely identified with it in the sense I have church' exist outside the communities brought together by a true eucharist spoken of. 'visible structure' of the Catholic Church. and directly rooted in the apostolic community? "For that matter I would not dare to say, "The doctrinal con­ Where there is a true eucharist, is there not ge­ in order to establish that identity ... 'the church by gregation said the Latin nuine incorporation into Christ? Here again a the very fact that it is a body, is discerned by the term 'subsist it in' (subsists deepening of eucharistic doctrine - indebted eye,' for this is not true of the church in heaven, in) was chosen by the largely to bringing in Oriental traditions - pro­ which remains the body of Christ in a more council 'exactly in order to make clear that one sole mpted a broadening of the outlook of Mystici perfect way; the comparison with a body does not 'subsistence' of the true Corporis. Objective reflection on the elements lie here, but in the organic unity by which a church exists, ' namely the (good things, treasure, traces) of the church was multitude of members, offices and charismata Catholic Church. dependent on a larger understanding, that of the make a unity, whose vital principle is the grace "That aspect of the doctrinal congregation's really ecclesial values of the sacramental life of of Christ and whose soul is the Spirit. Eoff critique was given the Eastern churches. "Therefore I earnestly beg that Article 7, scant attention in general In its relations with the Christian bodies Chapter 1, which makes the Catholic Church ab­ press coverage of the con­ · resulting from the Reformation, the Catholic solutely equivalent to the mystical body, be troversy, but it provoked Church has been led little by little to discover not consternation in deleted, and that this schema be thoroughly revis­ ecumenical circles. only that their baptism is valid, but that they pro­ ed so that the church of Christ appear less under "The Rev. Albert Outler duce fruits of grace. With the passing of the a juridical aspect but rather shine out fully in its of Southern Methodist polemical fever of the counter-Reformation it was mystical nature." 16 University, a leading realized - and here we have the origin of think­ The transition from est to subsistit in finds theologian and ecumenist who attended Vatican ing about the elementa ecclesiae (Lumen Gen­ its place, then, within a broad reflection which \.J ll, .. .sharply criticized the tium, 8; Unitatis Redintegratio, 3), that in those is both Christological and ecclesiological - the statement in an essay communities there is an evangelical life which can one inseparable from the other. have no other source but Christ and his Spirit It is worth recalling that, since Vatican I ► (Unitatis Redintegratio, 20-23). But to talk about closed without being able to discuss the schema 30 the effectual work of the Spirit of Christ in com- De Ecclesia, the paragraphs of Lumen Gentium we are examining represent the first great conciliar by day to the end of the ages (cf. Unitatis statement by the West on the church since the Redintegratio, 4). ◄ break with the Eastern church and then with the The positive certitude that the council Reform. It was to be expected that the experience wanted to express in the formula subsistit in may, published last year in the and practice of centuries of division should be according to Msgr. Gerard Philips, be summed up book 'Vatican II Revisited.' "At the council, Dr. taken into consideration. and transcribed thus: It is in the Catholic Church Outler said, the non­ Subsistit in states first of all a positive cer­ "that we find the church of Christ in all its fullness Catholic observers saw the titude on which all the first part of Lumen Gen­ and all its strength." It is clear that in the coun­ 'subsistit' texts - the term tium is like a commentary. The immediate con­ cil's thought this "fullness" is tied to the presence was used three separate text affirms the unity and uniqueness of Christ's within the episcopal body of a focus of commu­ times - as crucial to mov­ ing the Catholic Church church, that which our Savior after his resurrec­ nion and of cohesion in faith and charity in the away from its ecumenical tion committed to Peter as its pastor and made ministry of the bishop of Rome. But here above policy of the previous 30 forever (in perpetuum) "the pillar and bulwark of all it is important to be clear and to interpret the years into a new policy, the truth" (1 Tm. 3: 15). The council here joins council with finesse. based on the idea of unity through 'convergence, ' with the thought of Vatican I, which says: "The In line with Mystici Corporis, No. 8 of which was to become the church is of itself, because of its Catholic unity Lumen Gentium reasserts indeed that there is no basis for 'a massive and enduring stability, a kind of great and ecclesial fullness according to the present economy ecumenical reorientation' by everlasting motive of credibility, an unshakeable of salvation, except in the community "which is the Catholic Church. witness of her own divine delegation" (De fide governed by the successor of Peter and by the "'Two decades later, it (that convergence approach) cath. III). bishops in union with that successor" (cf. Unitatis has not only been denied The Decree on Ecumenism centers more on Redintegratio, 4). We have there an absolute con­ but repudiated"' by the the unity of the church "in the confession of one viction which nothing in the text modifies. Yet it doctrinal congregation, faith, on the common celebration of divine wor­ would seriously misrepresent the thought of the Outler wrote. "In a speech last August ship and in the fraternal harmony of the family council to see this "fullness" as deriving solely to leaders of U.S. Catholic of God." from juridical and canonical communion with the religious orders, Outler This one and only church ''we believe bishop of Rome. It is conditioned by that com­ asserted that official dwells in the Catholic Church as something she can munion, but not reducible to it. It is essentially a ecumenism is 'dead in the never lose" (Unitatis Redintegratio, 4). This uni­ communion in the whole economy of means of water' these days, in part because 'Romans in high ty given forever and not to be lost characterizes grace. places are re-exegeting 'sub­ the Catholic Church: It is sustained by the Holy Indeed what is implied here is what the sistit in' as if it always had Spirit in Christ to the glory of the Father. Thus Lord Jesus intends as the normal state of the life meant 'est. "' (The speech in the Catholic Church is found the whole of the of grace for his people. And that normal state is appeared in Origins, vol. 16, pp. 253ff.) revealed gift and the fullness of the means of made up of the blending of all the values of faith In one passage, Outler salvation. and sacramental life which communion with the explained that what had im­ In the same sense Vatican I had said: "On­ episcopal college and its head is there precisely to pressed Protestant observers ly to the Catholic Church do all those many and realize. at Vatican II was "the wonderful things belong which have been ordain­ As a gloss on Msgr. Philips' expression, I quiet affirmation that the 'ecclesia unica' subsists in ed by God for the clear credibility of the Chris­ would say that it is in the Catholic Church that the Roman Catholic tian faith" (Defide, III). If the one word subsistit the whole of what the Lord Jesus Christ has given Church. By a fairly plain does not of itself provide a full explanation, the to his people, to enable them to constitute the com­ inference, we took that to context does. It is the manner in which Christ's munity of grace willed by the Father, is transmit­ mean an allowance for its church is found in the Catholic Church which gives real presence in other chur­ ted and kept so that it cannot be lost. Obviously ches, in however reduced a the full content of that word. At the same time, that whole is not to be reduced to a simple addi­ degree. This altered the the difference between subsistit and existit remains tion sum of the means of grace. It includes also whole ecumenical perspec­ essential, because subsistit does not rule out that the whole spiritual atmosphere created by the tradi­ tive - or so it seemed at ''many elements of sanctification and of truth can tion of thought, prayer and conduct handed on the time - from the notion of union by 'return' to one be found outside of her visible structure" (Lumen from generation to generation. And it is pierced of 'convergence. "' Gentium, 8). "Some, even very many of the most through and through by the deep anxiety for the significant endowments which together go to build salvation of the whole world which from apostolic up and give life to the church can exist outside the times has filled Christian communities. visible boundaries of the Catholic Church" It will be seen that this "fullness" of (Unitatis Redintegratio, 3). The Constitution on realization of the church is looked at here ideally the Church and the Decree on Ecumenism state as the upholding of everything the Lord Jesus has that these elements are ecclesial elements ("these bequeathed for the building up of the church from are gifts belonging to the church of Christ" Pentecost to the last day of history. No judgment (Lumen Gentium, 8) "belong by right to the one is implied on the way in which the faithful or even church of Christ" (Unitatis Redintegratio, 3). the communities make use of this legacy, on their This means to say that the church of Christ fidelity to it or, as would be said today, their "sub­ is not limited to the visible structure of the Catholic jective holiness.'' Indeed Lumen Gentium does not Church. Given that these elements are elements of hesitate to speak of a church which, including sin­ the church, they "possess an inner dynamism ners as it does, is at once holy and always needing toward Catholic unity" (Lumen Gentium, 8). The to be purified (sancta simul et semper purifican­ movement toward full unity is by divine grace built da) and this a few lines after it has affirmed the into the church wherever she exists and lives. subsistit in. The standpoint is Christocentric. There The Spirit does not cease to move all who is no question of declaring the Catholic Church are baptized and incorporated in Christ toward full self-sufficient or morally superior. It is enough to unity. The church of Christ will grow in unity day state that by the Spirit of Christ there has been 31 deposited in it and is still to be found Are we to conclude that subsistit in the Son in the Holy Spirit, we can see that everything that makes it possible for the leads to an excessive relativization of the on the one hand the depth of this commu- church of God to be what it is called to be. unique quality of the Catholic Church? nion determines the depth of incorporation The subsistit in has, however, Some have thought so. But that would be in the church, and on the other that it can- another overtone; and in the spirit of the to forget that the expression cannot be not be a question of all or nothing. To council's discussion of Lumen Gentium it soundly interpreted apart from its context. welcome the word of God by faith, to seal 0 is as important as what has gone before. In The context shows plainly that there is no that welcome by baptism, to live in ~ the formula inspired by Humani Generis question of denying this unique quality of brotherhood, to be full of the will to witness and above all by Mystici Corporis, the est the Catholic Church, which the references to Christ Jesus, to celebrate the eucharist, was exclusive. It stated flatly what Cardinal to the hierarchy throw even more into relief. to remain in the communion of the Lienart in his speech had translated as a Paragraph 14 speaks of full incorporation episcopal college and of its head, these are strict identity between the Roman Catholic achieved only in the Catholic Church, as ex­ steps inspired and supported by the Spirit Church and the mystical body, "as though plicitly as could be wished. of Christ and they create communion. To the mystical body were totally confined "They are fully incorporated in the be sure, the latter does not possess all its within the bounds of the Roman church." 18 society of the church who possess the Spirit essential characteristics except where an Subsistit in , on the contrary, is meant to in­ of Christ, who accept the entire order and authentic eucharist is celebrated and lacks dicate that the church, which in the Creed means of salvation instituted by him and are its fullness except where the hierarchy is we profess to be one, holy, catholic and joined in the same visible structure with united around the bishop of Rome. apostolic, is found in this world - con­ Christ, who rules that structure through the Nonetheless, where only the first of those stituted and organized as a society - in the supreme pontiff and the bishops - joined, Christian steps are found we are already in Catholic Church, though indeed it goes that is, by ties of profession of faith, the field of koinonia, already associated beyond the visible limits of the latter. But sacraments and ecclesiastical authority and with the reality of ecclesial being. We are beyond those limits it no longer has its communion." not empty of communion in God's sight, fullness and full force. That was certainly It would nevertheless be a mistake we are not "outside the church of God." how the fathers thought in their speeches. to think that the expression aims to concen­ It follows from this that, in relation Moreover, the text is careful to make clear trate all ecclesiality solely in the Catholic to communion with God - inaugurated by at once that outside the Catholic Church Church and considers the elementa present the Spirit of Christ - which is the essential there exist many (plura) elements of sanc­ elsewhere as detached and drifting axis of ecclesial communion, some com­ tification and truth which are the gifts pro­ fragments. The insistence of the text on the munities may already be of the church per to the church of Christ and therefore role of the Holy Spirit in non-Catholic com­ without yet being churches (that is, having true ecclesial elements. munities where, also in them, "he works an authentic eucharist) and without Subsistit in thus allows emphasizing through his sanctifying power, his gifts and establishing links of horizontal communion both the conviction that the one and genuine his graces" (No. 15) prompting them to uni­ with the Catholic Church. Belonging to the church of God is found in the Catholic ty "in one flock under one shepherd" for­ church turns essentially on the relation Church and the certitude that it nonetheless bids denying to those communities as such which comes down from God. And if, to extends, though Jacking its fullness, beyond all properly ecclesial reality. Moreover, what repeat the words of Lumen Gentium, it does the Catholic Church. Only the fullness of I have said about the traditional attitude not find its fullness except in communion the elements of truth and sanctification toward the Eastern churches - though they with him who, in the episcopal college, manifests the power of the presence of the too are detached from "communion under safeguards the bond of visible unity of all ( Spirit and guarantees that it cannot be lost. the successor of Peter" - shows that in­ the eucharistic communities, that fullness is ' Paragraphs 14 and 15 make clear that stinctively the Catholic Church has refused itself a grace from God. Subsistit in thus ap­ among non-Catholic Christians there is "a to see in the Orthodox communities nothing pears, in an ecclesiology of communion, as baptism which unites -them to Christ, "in­ but a collection of elements of the church. an attempt to express the transcendence of deed a certain true conjunction in the Holy She has seen them as authentic churches. grace and to give an inkling of the breadth Spirit." There is even mention in some cases Perhaps this case is regarded as an excep­ of divine benevolence. It is then that the of sacraments received "in their own tion? It would surely be a very significant traditional view of ecclesial koinonia as the church." For them too, certainly, it is a one, which deserves full attention. sacramentum of God's design takes on a matter of at least some belonging to the Moreover, No. 15 of the constitution new depth. church. includes the traits proper to these churches I have dealt mainly with Lumen It should be pointed out that if the in a Jong list directed at all the "churches Gentium. The council document on Christians of those churches or communities and ecclesial communities" cut off from full ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio) was to are truly sanctified or brought to "a sincere communion with the bishop of Rome. be a kind of bringing into play within the religious zeal," "a strength which can go as It has been said that in the council council of everything implied in the transi­ far as the shedding of blood," "a commu­ documents you can find two ecclesiologies tion from est to subsistit in. It is no acci­ nion in prayer and other spiritual benefits" that do not harmonize, that even contradict dent that the clearest commentary of those (No. 15), this does not happen independent each other. Only a selective reading could I have examined is this from the Decree on of their communities. We are not talking lead to that view . It is evident that the Ecumenism: · about belonging to Christ and hence to the fathers never wanted to depart from the "Men who believe in Christ and church as though it were a gift of grace not doctrine of Vatican I. They wanted to com­ have been properly baptized are brought in­ coming to them through their own Chris­ plete and deepen that doctrine and open it to a certain, though imperfect, communion tian church or confession. Christians up to new problems posed in the 20th cen­ with the Catholic Church. Undoubtedly, the belonging to another church or ecclesial tury, especially from an ecumenical differences that exist in varying degrees bet­ community confess the Christian faith, standpoint. ween them and the Catholic Church - though it be not identical with the faith of Subsistit in cannot be authentically whether in doctrine and sometimes in dis­ the Catholic Church. It is the faith of their understood except in the setting of ec­ cipline, or concerning the structure of the community which they express when they clesiology of communion, and then only if church - do indeed create many and some­ receive baptism. The baptism that com­ communion is seen not simply horizontally times serious obstacles to full ecclesiastical munity celebrates is a baptism which incor­ nor merely as between Christians or Chris­ communion. These the ecumenical move­ porates in Christ within that community. tian communities, but also and in the first ment is striving to overcome. Nevertheless, There are no vagrant baptized. The many place as communion with God himself. The all those justified by faith through baptism elements of sanctification and truth which statement of the first Johannine epistle is are incorporated into Christ. They therefore exist outside the visible limits of the Catholic here of capital importance, whatever the cir­ have a right to be honored by the title of ~ , Church are inseparable from the other cumstances which explain it: "Fellowship is Christian, and are properly regarded as elements with which they are in symbiosis. with the Father and with his Son Jesus brothers in the Lord by the sons of the It is in the community, Lutheran, Methodist Christ" (1 Jn. 1:3). Catholic Church" (No. 3). or Baptist, etc., that grace is given, and Indeed, if the church is fundamen­ Footnotes belonging to the church takes place there. tally this communion with the Father and ' See G. Alberigo, F. Magistretti, Constitutionis 32 Dogmaticae Lumen Gentium Synopsis Historica, Holy Office's letter: 10 Ibid., 426; cf. 419. Bologna, 1975, 38 . "The same must however be said of the church "Acta synodalis 11/1, 656-657. 'Acta synodalia sacrosancti concilii oecumenici insofar as it is itself a general aid to salvation. It 12 Msgr. Rousseau, ibid., 561. Vaticani II, Vol. III/1, 177. But these texts are may be that for someone to gain eternal salvation "Thus Msgr. Meouchi, ibid., 693-694. grouped more accessibly in Alberigo and Magistret­ it is not always required that he be actually incor­ " Ibid., 289. ti. For the passages quoted here see pp. 440, porated as a member of the church, but it is at least " On this subject see the interesting note by G. r 261-262. required that he belong to it by desire and resolve. Hofmann, "Notae historicae de terminologia 'Acta synodalia, 11/1, 653 . However, it is not always necessary that this resolve theologica Concilii Fiorentini" in Greg. 20, 1939, • Thus Father Aniceto Fernandez, master general be explicit, as it is with catechumens, but where a 257-263 (260-261); Y. Congar, "Note sur /es mots of the Dominicans, who suggested consistit in (ibid., 68). person is invincibly ignorant God also accepts an confession, eglise et communion, " in Irenikon 23, ' Modorum expensis, cf. Alberigo and Magistret­ implicit resolve, so called because it is contained in I 950, 3-36 (23-24). ti, 504-507. that good disposition of the soul by which a per­ "Acta synodalia, l/4, 126-127. ' See on this point the very firm statements of son wishes to conform his own will to the will of " Msgr. Philips, L 'Eglise et son mystere au Ile the Holy Office to the archbishop of Boston (Aug. God" (DS, 3870). Concile du Vatican, T .l, Paris, 1967, 119. 8, 1949) about the Feeney affair, which based itself 'DS, 2429. 11 See above, Note 16. on the encyclical (Denzinger-Schonmetzer, • Alberigo and Magistretti, 384. " It was spontaneously taken thus by 3866-3873, 3871). I cite the central paragraph of the • Ibid., 397. non-Catholics.