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

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. Baptism 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”, (Cyprian)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, Paris 1962. J.M.R. Tillard, Iglesias de Iglesias, Salamanca 1990. 2 Dehoniana 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 John of the Cross 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. 3 Dehoniana 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.

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