RODRÍGUEZ GARRAPUCHO, F. The “Sint Unum” in Communion Ecclesiology Dehoniana 1997/1, 40-52

Per la citazione: DEH1997-03-EN The “Sint Unum” in Communion Ecclesiology

Fernando Rodriguez Garrapucho, scj

1. EXPLANATION OF TERMS 1 When we speak of “communion” in the Church we are speaking about something essential in its constitution and structure. Given that the word has many meanings, we will explain exactly what we wish to talk about. Firstly, what it is not: a) coordination, in a functional sense, of the different services and vocations in the Church; b) gentleness, availability, co-operation with the hierarchical authorities (religious, episcopal, or papal), and even less, being servile; c) the medium which expresses it or serves it by means of signs in the life of Christians (life in common, solidarity as regards material goods, structures of assistance and dialogue, etc.). 2 Making use of the words of the special Synod of Bishops of 1985, and recognising together with this Synod that the term theological - of which we are speaking - is “complete”, we can begin to determine its significance: “basically, it is the communion with God for Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit1. This communion is in the Word of God and in the sacraments. is the door and the foundation of the communion of the Church; the Eucharist is the source and the culmination of the whole of Christian life (cf. LG 11). The Communion of the Eucharistic Body of Christ means and does, that is to say, it edifies the intimate communion of all the faithful in the Body of Christ which is the Church (1Cor 10,16). For the Church, ecclesiology of communion cannot be reduced to mere organisational issues or questions which refer to mere power. Ecclesiology of communion is the foundation for

1 The three prepositions of relation to the divine persons, ‘with’, ‘by’, ‘in’, harmonize the differentiations in the communion with the divine mystery” J. Losada, La comunion en la iglesia-comunion, in: “Communio” 10 (1988) 42.

© Copyright riservato Centro Studi Dehoniani Roma – Sacerdoti Sacro Cuore di Gesù. Consentita la riproduzione integrale in fotocopia e libera circolazione senza fine di lucro. È vietato il plagio e la copiatura integrale o parziale di testi e disegni a firma degli autori – a qualunque fine – senza citare la fonte (Repubblica italiana, legge 18/08/2000 nº 248). Dehoniana the order of the Church and in the first place, for the strict relation between unity and “pluriformity” in the Church”2. 3 If the dimensions of the “communio” in the Church are so essential it is sure that “communion implicates us all and its fault has in fact been - in a very different degree, from the times of the Pauline Church up to the present day - permanent weakness, but at the same time, also a permanent challenge and permanent call to conversion”3.

2. ROOTS OF THE ECCLESIAL “COMMUNIO” 4 The definitive original foundation of the ecclesial communion is in the condition of being, of God, as Trinity: “that they may be one, as we are” (John 17,11). This has not always been obvious throughout history, but the Fathers conceived of it thus from the beginning of ecclesiological reflection. The Church, according to them, is an image or icon of the Trinity: “like a people brought together in the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost”, ()4; “where the three, i.e. the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, there is the Church which is the body of the three” (Tertullian)5. In this way, H. de Lubac, re-reading the theological tradition, was able to say of the ecclesiology of this century that “the Church is a mysterious extension of the Trinity in time, which does not only prepare us for the united life, but it also makes us a participator in it. It comes from the Trinity and is full the Trinity”6. 5 The reference to the Trinity not only as the original but also as the unique model of communion is essential for a deep understanding of the ecclesial mystery. Communion means the way of being of God and therefore, the way to achieve the Church as brotherhood which lives in communion. If the trinitary communion is made up of the participation of the people in the life of the Trinity, each according to his own qualities, the ecclesial communion will be built in so far as the participation of the members of the Church in ecclesial life takes place, each according to his vocation. 6 The fact that the Church is a communion because it is made up of the image of God, one and three has many implications, both for the form of its self-understanding and for the form of organisation of its life7.

2 El Vaticano II, don de Dios, The documents of the special Synod of 1985, 78-79. For the history of the term ‘communio’ cf. M. Gesteira Garza, Creo en la comunion de los santos, in “Communio” 10 (1988) 4-37. 3 Ignacio Iglesias SJ, La vida religiosa en la Iglesia misterio de comunion, in: “Confer XXXII” (1993) 574. 4 St Cyprian of Carthage, De orat. dom. 23, PL 4, 553. 5 Tertullian, De bapt. VI, CCL 1, 282. 6 Henry de Lubac, Paradoja y misterio de la Iglesia, Salamanca 1970, 49-50. 7 Cf. J. Hamer, L’Eglise est une communion, 1962. J.M.R. Tillard, Iglesias de Iglesias, Salamanca 1990.

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7 All this means: a) the same sap of the vine, which is Christ, circulates through each of its members. Communion is born from the radical equality and dignity of all the members of the Church whose foundation is to be found in baptism8; b) ecclesial communion and the eucharist are two inseparable realities. The Eucharist creates a unity between communicants which always tends towards ecclesial communion: both “communions” tend towards the edification of the unique Body of Christ. “The Church is the body of Christ sacramentally formed (‘mystic’) by the eucharistic body”9; c) for the Church the communion is on the plane of the life and history, because it flows directly from God to make itself real in the relations with the other, seen as brother. Communion holds together the vertical and the horizontal dimensions; then the Church has life in that it receives it from Christ and remains in him for the love of our neighbour. To separate oneself from Christ, from the Church, means not to worry about the poor or the needy neighbour (where Christ lives), it is losing contact with the source of life; d) it is a participatory communion according to the mission that the Church has been entrusted with by Christ. There are no dead or useless members in it. All have a responsible task and participation in the sphere of being and mission; e) Communion is possible because it takes place between free persons who accept, respect and welcome the risks of diversity. How could we talk otherwise of “live stones” which edify the Church by means of a common life? f) the unity of all around a common mission is not opposed to the diversity of functions and ministries. It doesn’t make sense to confront in principle (and even less theologically) charisma and ministry, even though tensions are not to be excluded10. g) the call of Jesus to communion makes the pain of divisions felt in the breast of the unique Body of Christ, a body broken and divided. It is a communion which forces us to grow in concentric circles in the

8 Cf. LG, 32. In this number the three features which characterise communion in the Church concerning the diversity of vocations: equality, common dignity, mutual necessity. 9 Ricardo Blazquez, La Iglesia del Vaticano II, Salamanca 1988, 65. Also pages 64 and 66. Cf LG, 26. The identical intuition of St expressed in poetry, in the poem “La Fonte” (Song of the soul which longs to know God through faith) is most significant, where he associates in his verses, the Trinity, Communion of life and the Eucharist. 10 Cf L. Boff, Iglesia: carisma y poder, Salamanca 1982. As against H. Schlier, Ecclesiologia del Nuevo Testamento, in MysSal IV/I, 216-223.

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ecumenical attitude, so as to take on more as we move further and further away, beginning with the Churches and Christian communities which are closest11.

3. THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE TO ECCLESIAL COMMUNION 8 In this subject we find ourselves up against two extremes. There are those who praise religious people as the authentic “experts” in communion in the Church and those who consider them an obstacle because of their tendency to feel themselves a group apart and isolated from the rest of the faithful, as Luther accused them in his time when he said; they feel more proud of being the children of St Benedict, Augustine or Bernard than of being baptised12. If we look back at the past, religious life has, on occasion, betrayed its vocation towards communion, because of its elitist isolation or lack of interest in the pastoral mission of local Churches. This is true. And yet, since its birth in the lands of the Egyptian desert it has upheld its claim to be a living parable of life in communion and apostolic fraternity. It is enough to note the fact of the enormous ecclesial conscience of all the founders throughout history. They always felt themselves to be Church and “felt with the Church”, according to the language of Ignatius. 9 If the religious life has much to offer ecclesial communion it is because some of its particular characteristics which make it symbolically efficacious in the sphere of communion. Let us look at some of them 10 A) One of these is its character of prophetic inducement towards fraternity when this blurred by the Church. Not in vain, if we look at history we see that Orders or Congregations grew as alternative proposals” in the society and even in the Church of the time. This alternative proposal always aims at the ideal primitive community and at a fraternity which reflects the true face of the Church. Religious life has trod continues to tread a path which goes further than the visible external communion and passes beyond to a more interior level. It is always ready to set the pace for the community, in the direction of the communion between people13. To go beyond juridical or functional - or even affective - so as to discover this personal reciprocity

11 H. Schutte, Ziel: Kirchengemeinschaft. Zur okumenischen Orientierung, Paderborn 1986. 12 M. Luther, De votis monasticis. M. Luteri iuditium, 1521, WA 8, 564-569. 13 It seems to me correct that the prior of the ecumenical community of Taizé has given the name to himself to underline his function in the monastic community: The “servidor de comunion”. Serving the “communion” of the brothers is much more profound than serving the community, which, naturally is not exclusive. On the theme “communion-community” cf. Ricardo Blazquez, La ecclesiologia del Vaticano II, Salamanca 1988, 59.

4 Dehoniana with those whom we have not mutually chosen, but who we have experienced as chosen and summoned by the other freely, assumes transferring communion of God with all human beings to the plane of Grace. We cannot propose or imagine any other prophetising more revelatory and more convincing than that of men and women to whom communion leads to not withholding, not discriminating against those who receive; to turn firstly to those who human egoism - one’s own or that of another - has discriminated against. To live this prophesying is to announce to God with our best word”14. 11 B) Another of the characteristics of religious life which makes of it an artifice of communion in the Church is its sensibility in seeking out the dehumanizing places of people or social groups, so as to take sides with the poor. No-one remains outside its frontiers, but much care is taken of the most needy, for whom all human and ecclesial communion has been severed. Even though religious men and women constitute only 0.12% of the total of the Church, their contribution is effective and their impact is significant in shaping the face of the Church as a “universal communion”, precisely because of its option in favour of the poor, a choice which was decisive in general for the founders. Its inclination towards the losers in history makes of it a live prophecy of communion, and questions the world about its injustices and the lack of solidarity which tears and divides it tragically and continuously15. 12 C) “Religious people can never renounce being builders of communion”16. In the plurality of charismas within the Church, the religious life shows that there is a plurality which does not dissolve the Church but rather makes it possible, thanks to communion among a variety of styles and personalities. The multiform nature of charismas with which the Holy Ghost enriches the Church does not mean uniformity, but unity in the communion of vocations. Contributing to this is the fact that religious families are becoming more international and multi-cultural. This is very important since ‘the communio Ecclesiarum’ is the shaping law of the only Church”17. The internal dialogue at the heart of each Institute concerning charismatic communion, acting alongside cultural diversity provides a stimulus for dialogue between the religious life and the world, according to its different

14 Ignacio Iglesias, SJ, op. cit., 583. 15 Cf X. Pikaza, Comunion de los santos. Experiencia y meditacion, in “Communion” 10 (1988) 69-75. 16 Jose Maria Guerrero SJ, La vida religiosa en una Iglesia comunion, in: “Foll. con El”, no. 147, March (1996) XX. 17 W. Aymans, Die communio Ecclesiarum als Gestaltgesetz der einen Kirchen, in: “Archiv fur katholishes Recht” 139 (1970) 69. According to LG 23 and AG 19 the Church is “the body of the Churches”. Cf J. Famerée, Au fondament des conférences épiscopales: la “communio ecclesiarum”, in: RTL 23 (1992) 343-354.

5 Dehoniana cultures, at the same time that it is a stimulus for the whole Church in the achievement of communion in diversity. 13 D) On the other hand, the involvement of religious life in local Churches began its journey in post council times and still has a long way to go, but today it is already providing abundant fruit. With the rediscovery of the theology of the local Church beginning with council ecclesiology, much has changed in the relations between Bishops and religious people and the pastoral relations between religious people and agents of the diocesan pastoral. “Bishops must not make their authority ‘absolute’...and neither must religious people make their autonomy ‘absolute’”18. At the present time, although most Orders and Congregations are part of pontifical law, and it being clear to all that religious life was not born as a creation of the hierarchy, there still exists the consciousness with which religious people live their faith and exercise their mission in a particlular Church, at whose head is a Bishop, as successor of the apostles (MR, 23). The mutual understanding, the sincere and open dialogue which totally avoids occultism, suspicion and subterranean methods of achieving common aims for the good of the Church, are a part of these “mutual relations” which religious life and Bishops are developing in the local Church, concerning an ecclesial life in common19, even though sometimes there are serious deficiencies. 14 E) Another of the elements of ecclesial communion to which religious life is contributing is the linking of lay people with the primitive charisma of the Founders of the Orders and Congregations with the aim of living the different spiritualities of the Institutions, but in laicity. The principle which guides this practice and which today is intensifying and growing is that the charismatic gifts presented to a Founder are for the Church and not only for the religious people of his Order20.20 The incorporation of lay people in life and in the mission of the Church is a sign of the times, sufficiently accepted by the Church, above all by the Vatican Council II and originating with it. But now we have to go ahead and create real structures of communion and participation of lay people where the communion of life and action is made effective in the face of the passivity of the laity, still to be overcome on the whole. No longer can we think in terms of active members (religious people and the clergy) and passive members (laity), who take over from their predecessors. It is true that we should be thankful for the fact that the laity

18 José Maria Guerrero, op. cit., XXIII. 19 Cf. the numbers 48-50 of the apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata by John Paul II and the personal emphasis which the gives so that ecclesial communion grows to these levels at the end of n. 50: “Is an auspice that I have made mine, so that the mentality and spirituality of communion increases in all”. 20 The apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata reflects it and invites us to promote it in nos. 54-56.

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“takes an active part - conscientious and responsible - in the mission of the Church in this decisive moment of history”21, they are receiving one of the strongest impulses concerning this participation from their aggregation to the different forms of spirituality offered by religious Congregations. We have to recognise that this, more than a tactic or a strategy, is the result of a gift of the Spirit which has sprung from the laity and which is knocking at the doors of the religious life. In this there is a partially novel element which religious life has to articulate in terms of the communion of vocations in the Church. 15 F) Finally, we cannot fail to indicate the ecumenical task and the contribution of the religious life to communion between the Churches22 like the inter-religious dialogue. This has been pointed out recently with emphasis by the apostolic Exhortation, Vita consecrata. Here we see clearly the “deep link between consecrated life and the ecumenical cause”, and serious theological reasons are given for this linkage, but also of note is “the necessity for a more intense testimony in this field”23. Compared to the creative dialogue of communion with other religions it is important to recall the “dialogue of life”24, i.e. the personal testimony which entails religious life as a favourable element in the vital dialogue which opens the doors to understanding and mutual collaboration in favour of man, above all the weakest and the needy.

4. THE DEHONIAN “SINT UNUM” FOR COMMUNION IN THE CHURCH 16 “Communion” and “mission” are two realities that cannot be separated. One is there for the other and only united can they reflect God’s plan of salvation. “God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son”, to all men with the aim of restoring the communion lost through sin and divisions25. Communion is not the end-station in which one rests; rather it is the path along which we walk and suffer fatigue, in which we grow and mature to go deeply into the mystery of God and the mission which he conferred to us for the salvation of man. Every installation and arrangement in the religious life is an obstacle to communion, which must keep us in an attitude of search and permanent tension as regards unity. In this field, the dehonian “sint unum”,

21 John Paul II, Christifideles laici, 3. 22 That will be study in another article of this number, so I do not extend longer as it should be necessary. 23 John Paul II, Vita consecrata, 100. 24 Ibid, 102. 25 That’s why is true that “only by becoming missionary will the Christian community be able to overcome its internal divisions and tensions, and rediscover its unity and its strengh of faith”, John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio, 49.

7 Dehoniana has much to do with the “availability” which P. Dehon wished for in his religious people concerning a creative communion mission. 17 Another aspect of this subject directly involved with our spirituality is education for communion. The religious life is in itself a space which educates, in a privileged manner, for communion. And the dehonian religious life holds that the “sint unum” is an inspiration which reinforces this dimension. Number 95 of the Constitutions offers us a key to the education of our own in the field of communion ecclesiology. But sometimes, life in communion inspired by the “sint unum” exists in the sphere of the mission. We have to check if dehonian religious people are educating for ecclesial communion in our parishes, missions, teaching colleges, apostolic works of all types. 18 Communion does not take place without a lucid and critical attitude in face of reality. Not to think, not to worry, to live in a false peace is no sign of communion, but of something else. Communion demands thought, creativity, commitment (sometimes uncomfortable) and a passionate search for God’s will. In imitation of Padre Dehon, an example of ecclesial communion, troublesome and dangerous, the dehonian religious life must be committed and lucid face to face with the reality of the world and the Church, despite problems and misunderstanding on the part of those who wish to reduce communion to submission. Some of our religious people and some Provinces are an example of this. Others do not worry about anybody. 19 If it is true that the religious life is a creator of universal human communion by means of a choice for the poor and most needy, the dehonian religious life has, in Leon Dehon, a model of universal communion because of his choice for the working world in a society of unjust structures. The dehonian life today cannot omit, in its form of life and way of spreading the Gospel, the three-quarters of humanity which is suffering a progressive impoverishment, partly because of the exaggerated enrichment of the remaining wealthy part. The poor of the earth are troubling our cultural model26, which is ethically unjustifiable making the globalisation of the system impossible27. Today, the social question is to be found here and here today many dehonians are to be found, in distant missions or in their countries of origin. However, there are too many difficulties and absence of conscience in the face of a cultural model which is degrading a majority of humanity and destroying the naturalness and the future of man. 20 One of the problems of our at the present time is the internal ecclesial division caused on the one hand by conservative groups

26 Cf. L. Boff, ¿El cristiano ayuda a la comunidad a salir bien del siglo XX? in “Verapaz” 38 (1996) 28-36. 27 Let’s remember Gandhi’s sentence: “The earth it is enough for the basic needs of everybody, but it is not for the voracity of the consumers”.

8 Dehoniana who propose the return to the Church of the past and on the other groups characterised by a systematic disillusionment with the authorities and which are allergic to all that which comes from or the Bishops. Between the two extremes most of the faithful live, practising a Christianity “a’ la carte”, choosing that which is convincing and rejecting that which is not reasonable or does not conform to their own ideas. In such a situation, Padre Dehon shines out once more as a model of ecclesial faithfulness and obedience to the apostolic authority and at the same time a model of whole-hearted commitment to his conscience and his opinions on life. Dehonian religious life cannot take part in any faction, and particularly that of extremes, if it wishes to be a ferment of communion in today’s Church, following the example of its founder. Faithfulness towards the authorities together with a committed and creative attitude to bring the Church closer to the population are two dehonian ways of ecclesial communion which cannot be separated or counterpoised one against the other. 21 Many of the societies in which the Congregation is implanted are characterised by secularism and materialism which suffocate the idea and the experience of God. Religious indifference dominates the social panorama. However, in these societies - i.e. “western” - we are beginning to note the phenomenon favouring religion without God: religion yes, God (Cristian) no. This is a challenge for religious life, for the authentic personal experience of its spirituality, to be a “sign of transcendence” but also a sign of the true presence of God in our history. To a great extent, the chance for these societies to “extoll the market side, individualism and an esoteric religion less and the side of solidarity, liberty... and the Christian and ecclesial faith” more28 will depend on religious people. The equilibrium between contemplation and action which P. Dehon gave to our spirituality has much to offer in this sense. “In religious life there is an admirable equilibrium between the universal and the particular, between the interior and the exterior, between contemplation and action, the past and the future, person, community and common aims”29. We dehonians have the best spirituality to make, with these elements of our religious life, permanent sources of ecclesial and social communion. As regards the presence of the dehonians in very different cultures to that of westerners, it is clear that they cannot avoid “inculturation”, a subject which has its own foundation in many elements of our spirituality. 22 These are some of the elements which I believe might be indicated as concerning the strict relation which exists between our dehonian “sint unum” and an ecclesiology of communion, which is without doubt the ecclesiology

28 María Luz Galván, Europa: retos a la vida religiosa, in “Vida Nueva” 2.053 (1996) IX. 29 Ibid, XV.

9 Dehoniana of the Vatican Council II. There are more but the space is limited. They are traces which I hope can be of help in an ongoing reflection among ourselves on this topic. We could discuss and improve on these hints but what is indisputable is that in the issue of communion we are not talking about something “nice”, which adorns our life or makes it more attractive. The Gospel of John places it among the last recommendations of Christ before his departure, among the definitive tasks. In the “sint unum” the testimony and the mission of the Church became decisive: “let them be one...so that the world creates” (John 17,21). All those of us who live the dehonian spirit (religious and lay) are called to grow in communion along the road indicated by our Constitutions: the primacy of love for God, permanent conversion, willingness and help for the poor.

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