Communion in Growth Declaration on the Church, Eucharist, and Ministry A Report from the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Commission for Finland Communion in Growth Declaration on the Church, Eucharist, and Ministry A Report from the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Commission for Finland Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Catholic Church in Finland Helsinki 2017 Communion in Growth Declaration on the Church, Eucharist, and Ministry A Report from the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Commission for Finland © Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Catholic Church in Finland Language editor: Rupert Moreton, Lingua Fennica Book design: Unigrafia/ Hanna Sario Layout: Emma Martikainen Photo: Heikki Jääskeläinen: Icon of St. Henry the martyr, the first bishop in Finland by bishop Arseni of Joensuu ISBN 978-951-789-585-9 (paperback) ISBN 978-951-789-586-6 (PDF) Grano Helsinki 2017 CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................... 7 The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification and the Way Forward....................................................................................................... 7 Aim and Method of the Declaration............................................................ 9 I THE CHURCH AS COMMUNION IN THE TRIUNE GOD 1. Communion Ecclesiology as a Shared Framework ...................................... 13 2. The Sacramental Nature of the Church ...................................................... 18 3. The Common Understanding of the Church ............................................. 22 3.1. The Church as an Instrument and Sign of Divine Salvation ............... 22 3.2. Justification and the Sacramental Life of the Church .......................... 23 3.3. Communion and the Missio Dei ......................................................... 23 3.4. The Church in Christ like a Sacrament .............................................. 23 3.5. Divine and Human Aspects of the Church ......................................... 24 3.6. The Visible and Hidden Church and the Visible Signs of the Church ...................................................................................................... 26 3.7. The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church ................................. 27 3.8. Always in Need of Being Purified (semper purificanda), a Mixed Body (corpus permixtum) .................................................................................. 28 3.9. Mutual Recognition of Baptism ......................................................... 29 3.10. Baptism and Sanctification ............................................................... 30 3.11. The Apostolic Mission of the Church as Worship, Witness, and Service ....................................................................................................... 30 3.12. The Church under the Cross ............................................................ 31 3.13. Our Common Eschatological Hope ................................................. 31 4. Unity as Our Call and Mission ................................................................... 32 II EUCHARISTIC COMMUNION 1. The Sacraments in General ......................................................................... 33 1.1. Jesus Christ as the Original Sacrament and the Church as a Sacra- mental Framework .................................................................................... 33 1.2. The Common Understanding of the Sacraments ................................ 37 1.3. The General Condemnations of the Reformation Era on Sacraments in a New Light .......................................................................................... 39 1.3.1. The Constitutive Characteristics of the Sacraments ................. 39 1.3.2. The Effect of the Sacraments by Virtue of their Performance (ex opere operato), and the Importance of Faith (sola fide) ................ 41 1.3.3. The Unrepeatability of Certain Sacraments ............................. 44 1.3.4. The Authority to Administer the Sacraments ........................... 45 1.3.5. The Alterability of Liturgical Forms ......................................... 45 2. Eucharist ................................................................................................... 46 2.1. The Biblical Basis of the Eucharist ...................................................... 46 2.2. The Common Understanding of the Eucharist ................................... 47 2.2.1. The Eucharist as Source of Spiritual Life and Strength for the Faithful and for the Church ............................................................... 47 2.2.2. The Eucharist as a Sacrifice Grounded in the Presence of the Unique and Sufficient Sacrifice of Christ .......................................... 50 2.2.3. The Whole and Entire Presence of Christ in the Eucharist....... 55 2.2.4. The Epiclesis Rediscovered ...................................................... 57 2.2.5. The Liturgical Tradition of the Undivided Church as a Shared Heritage ................................................................................. 58 2.2.6. The Ordained Minister of the Eucharist .................................. 60 2.2.7. Communion under Both Kinds............................................... 62 2.2.8. Other Points of Consensus ...................................................... 63 2.2.9. Convergence on the Duration of the Eucharistic Presence ....... 64 2.3. Towards Overcoming the Doctrinal Condemnations on the Eucharist .................................................................................................. 66 2.3.1. The Challenge of Doctrinal Condemnations - The Council of Trent as an Example ...................................................................... 66 2.3.2. The Doctrine of Transubstantiation (Canones de Eucharistia 1–11) .............................................................................. 67 2.3.3. Communion under Both Kinds and the Communion of Small Children (Canones de Communione sub utraque Species et Parvulorum 1–4) ............................................................................... 70 2.3.4. The Mass as Sacrifice (Canones de Missae Sacrificium 1–9) .... 71 2.4. Conclusion ......................................................................................... 72 III. COMMUNION AND SACRAMENTAL MINISTRY 1. The Biblical and Historical Background of the Ministry ............................. 74 1.1 The Ministry in the New Testament .................................................... 74 1.2. The Patristic Time: the Connection between Communion, Tradition, and Succession .......................................................................................... 79 1.3. The Medieval Time: the Great Schism of the West and the Council of Constance ............................................................................................. 81 1.4. The Reformation Era ......................................................................... 83 1.5. The Ministry of the Bishop and Papacy since the First Vatican Council ..................................................................................................... 85 2. The Common Understanding of the Ministry ........................................... 87 2.1. The Common Priesthood and the Ordained Ministry ........................ 87 2.2. The Ordained Ministry: An Integral Element within the Sacramenta- lity of the Church ...................................................................................... 89 2.2.1. The Sacramental Ordination in the Service of Word and Sacraments ........................................................................................ 89 2.2.2. The Key Elements of Ministerial Ordination ........................... 91 2.2.3. A Lutheran Perspective on the Catholic Understanding of Ordination in the Roman Pontifical 1990 ......................................... 92 2.2.4. A Catholic Perspective on the Lutheran Understanding of Ordination in the ELCF Ordination Rite 2003 ................................. 93 3. The Ministry of Deacon ............................................................................. 94 4. The Common Understanding of the Episcopal Ministry ............................ 96 4.1. Sacramental Episcopal Ordination through Word, Prayer, and the Laying on of Hands ................................................................................... 96 4.2. Episcopal Ministry in Apostolic Succession as a Sign of Fidelity to the Divine Mission .................................................................................. 100 4.3. The Complementarity of the Sacramental and Historical Perspective of Apostolicity ......................................................................................... 101 4.4. The Authority of Bishops ................................................................. 103 4.5. The Episcopal Ministry in the Service of the Apostolic Mission of the Church .................................................................................................... 106 4.6. The Apostolic Dimension of the Ordination of a Bishop .................. 108 5. The Ministry of Peter as a Service to the Wholeness and Unity of the Church ........................................................................................................ 110 5.1. The Divine Mission of St Peter and the Petrine Ministry Today ....... 110 5.2. The Ministry of Unity ...................................................................... 112 5.3. The Petrine Ministry