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Durham E-Theses Ecclesiology in a time of Institutional Diminishment: The Paschal Trajectory of Church Reform and Renewal O'TAYLOR, ADAM,JAMES How to cite: O'TAYLOR, ADAM,JAMES (2020) Ecclesiology in a time of Institutional Diminishment: The Paschal Trajectory of Church Reform and Renewal , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13614/ Use policy This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike 3.0 (CC BY-NC-SA) Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Ecclesiology in a time of Institutional Diminishment: The Paschal Trajectory of Church Reform and Renewal Adam James O’Taylor Abstract This study seeks to articulate a constructive theology of ecclesial change in contexts of institutional decline. It considers how paradigmatic the full arc of the paschal mystery should be (notably, through death) for an ecclesiology of institutional diminishment. It then explores whether this is appropriately appreciated in contemporary Catholic diocesan reform and renewal efforts. For at least fifty years, British society has been experiencing a process of religious transformation, often labelled secularisation. Notwithstanding the exact nature of this change, what is not disputed, but much less systematically theorised and explored, is that most institutional churches are under significant organisational strain. This strain is requiring them to change how they operate substantially; most often they are diminishing and, in some forms, are dying. Taking both theological and historical perspectives, this should not necessarily be a cause for concern. However, it calls for understanding. This thesis examines such change theologically, within the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Following a literature review, it begins by outlining key principles for material change within the Church, following the work of Karl Rahner. It then explores the merits of a paschal ecclesiology with Hans Urs von Balthasar, as well as further work from Rahner on death. With these perspectives, it analyses the sufficiency of pastoral approaches to change followed by over half of Catholic dioceses in England and Wales in the period 2005-2019, as outlined in their publicly available restructuring plans. The conclusion discusses the extent to which, pressing beyond the occasionally used idea of ‘dark night’, the full paschal process of passion, death, and resurrection (a process so often extolled at the level of the individual believer) offers ecclesiological and practical clues for the journey ahead. Adam O’Taylor Ecclesiology in a time of Institutional Diminishment: The Paschal Trajectory of Church Reform and Renewal Adam James O’Taylor Department of Theology and Religion Durham University MA Thesis April 2020 2 Adam O’Taylor Contents ABSTRACT 1 CONTENTS 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7 INTRODUCTION 8 1. To dust we shall return 8 2. This moment in the history of the Church 10 3. From kenotic to paschal ecclesiology 12 4. Structure and outline methodology 13 CHAPTER 1: THE BOOKSHELVES OF A CHANGING CHURCH 15 1. Sociological context and the nature of the institutional Church 15 2. A range of approaches 17 3. Theological sources 18 4. Pastoral-ecclesial sources 28 5. Extra-ecclesial sources 33 6. Conclusion 38 CHAPTER 2: KARL RAHNER’S PRINCIPLES FOR ECCLESIOLOGICAL REFORM, RENEWAL AND CHANGE 40 1. Introduction 40 2. Rahnerian ecclesiology 41 3. Rahner’s method and his theological ambitions 44 4. Theoretical backdrop 48 5. Rahner’s views about change in the church – extent and nature 51 6. Rahner’s outline model for change 56 7. Theological experimentation 64 8. Possible critiques of method and ideas 68 3 Adam O’Taylor 9. Conclusion 73 CHAPTER 3: PASCHAL CHANGE AND DIMINISHMENT: HANS URS VON BALTHASAR AND RAHNER’S THEOLOGY OF DEATH 76 1. Introduction 76 2. Mysterium Paschale 79 3. On the Theology of Death 87 4. Treading carefully around death 100 5. Talking properly about change 102 6. Conclusion 103 CHAPTER 4: REVIEWING ENGLISH AND WELSH DIOCESAN PASTORAL PLANNING 2005-2019 107 1. Context for diocesan responses 108 2. Affective responses 112 3. Theological ideas 118 4. Paschal ecclesiology and Rahnerian change 121 5. Change management - presence of theory and typology 125 6. Change management in seventeen dioceses 126 7. Conclusion 128 CONCLUSION: CLUES FOR AN ECCLESIOLOGY OF CHURCH DIMINISHMENT 129 1. How long, O Lord? 129 2. Measuring success 131 3. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done 132 4. Remembering the importance of the task 134 5. Approaching death well 135 6. The Word made flesh 135 APPENDIX: DIOCESAN DOCUMENTATION - SUMMARY AND METHODOLOGICAL NOTES 137 BIBLIOGRAPHY 142 4 Adam O’Taylor List of Abbreviations MP Balthasar, Hans Urs von. Mysterium Paschale: The Mystery of Easter. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1990. Wintry Season Rahner, Karl, Paul Imhof, Hubert Biallowons, and Harvey D. Egan. Faith in a Wintry Season: Conversations and Interviews with Karl Rahner in the Last Years of His Life. New York: Crossroad, 1990. On Death Rahner, Karl. On the Theology of Death. New York: Herder and Herder, 1972. I Remember Rahner, Karl. I Remember: An Autobiographical Interview with Meinold Krauss. Edited by Meinold Krauss. London: SCM, 1984. Question Rahner, Karl. “The Question of the Future.” In Theological Investigations; 12, edited by David Bourke. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1974. Changeable Rahner, Karl. "Basic Observations on the Subject of Changeable and Unchangeable Factors in the Church." In Theological Investigations; 14, edited by David Bourke. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1976. Future Church Rahner, Karl. "The Future of the Church and the Church of the Future." In Theological Investigations; 20. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1981. Structural Rahner, Karl. "Structural Change in the Church of the Future." In Theological Investigations; 20. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1981. 5 Adam O’Taylor Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author's prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. 6 Adam O’Taylor Acknowledgements I submit this with a good number of people to thank. Firstly, I am indebted to Paul Murray and Karen Kilby who supervised the work and whose writing, teaching and pastoral support I have benefited from enormously in the last two years. The whole Centre for Catholic Studies community and Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University has also been a wonderful home. Many staff and students have been good companions on this journey, ever generous with encouragement and gentle with my frequent ignorance. Thank you to the funders who covered my course fees: the Lay Training Fund of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, as well as the Institute of Our Lady of Mercy in the form of a Catherine McAuley Bursary. I write in the hope of drawing forth treasures old and new and very much appreciated your helping hand along the way. To Jeroen Hoogland, Lya Vollering, and the Passionist community at Minsteracres: I am grateful for much friendship over this time and also the perfect writing environment for some of these ideas to take root. Gardens (and silence) are good for reflections about life and death. Many thanks also to the organisations I have worked alongside during this time, charitable and religious orders, who have allowed me to deepen my reflections about some of these ideas in practice. To those I briefly interviewed and have spoken to over the years about diocesan processes, thank you too. You helped draw back the veil from the documents I was buried in and it was much appreciated. Though I have written sometimes critically, I hope to have done so as a friend, acknowledging too the challenges which dioceses face at the moment. In my professional life I have wrestled with death and closed down programmes and organisations, but yet have also tried to keep alive that which is dearest to me and been most unwilling to recognise a changed reality and perhaps a new call from God. I know how institutions are not at all built to imagine their own ending and I do not know if I would in practice have the courage to press some of the ideas I advocate in this writing. I am in awe of the hope-filled and generous nature some of the processes I have studied; thank you for much to grapple with. I am conscious of having not written in depth about any women theologians. The fault is my own and a regrettable one, especially so in some of the gendered language that emerges from the historical theologians. Rahner and Balthasar ended up best for the topic at the time, but, along with a theology of liberation, I have resolved to address this imbalance if I ever write about change, which involves resistance and struggle, in the Church again. I am conscious too of having written mainly of Jesuits. To them and an appreciation of the Spiritual Exercises I am in debt. The topics for this thesis were born during my time as a Jesuit novice and at St Beuno’s. Thank you to my fellow 30-day retreatant who posted a birthday card under my door one day and brought the words “Jesus set his face for Jerusalem” to the fore of my prayer and reflections. The words confirmed in me a movement which I have wrestled with in recent years and lie at the heart of the challenges posed here. In a similar vein, I’d like to thank too those who gave me an historical education. The questions of this thesis were born from an historical quest, wondering why writing about the Church in the 1970s looked like it could be transposed directly to today – I hope to have found at least clues to some answers here.

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