Vatican II and the Ecclesiology of Joseph Ratzinger | The
Introduction to "Joseph Ratzinger: Life in the Church and Living Theology" | Fr. Maximilian Heinrich Heim | IgnatiusInsight.com
Vatican II and the Ecclesiology of Joseph Ratzinger | The
Introduction to Joseph Ratzinger: Life in the Church and Living
Theology—Fundamentals of Ecclesiology with Reference to Lumen Gentium | Fr. Maximilian Heinrich Heim
http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2008/mhheim_introjr_jan08.asp
We cannot return to the past, nor have we any desire to do so. But we
must be ready to reflect anew on that which, in the lapse of time, has remained
the one constant. To seek it without distraction and to dare to accept, with
joyful heart and without diminution, the foolishness of truth—this, I
think, is the task for today and for tomorrow. [1]
Joseph Ratzinger is considered by some to be the representative of a "petrified
theology", [2] whereas for others [3] he is a voice that claims to speak
the truth and makes it possible to perceive "the whole in its depth
dimension" [4] This dissertation places him—amid the tensions of
present-day disputes within the Church about the patrimony of the Second
Vatican Council—as an ecclesiologist at the center of this discourse, by
setting forth his statements about the Church as a central aspect of an
existential theology. Because theology and ecclesial life have been melded into
one in an unusual way in Ratzinger's work, his theological thought can be
characterized as "existential", without thereby relegating it to the
realm of the merely subjective. Ratzinger is in fact concerned about a theology
that proceeds, not from a private being, but rather from an existence that has
surrendered itself to the Church, [5] in other words, "a theology of ex-sistere, of that exodus by which the human individual goes
out from himself and through which alone he can find himself", [6] a
theology, therefore, that seeks God in the Church and through the Church as its
preexisting center. Consequently, its task consists of "keeping what is
earthly and human so that it is trans- parent toward the truly fundamental
reality, the divine reality that opens itself to us through Christ in the Holy
Spirit". [7]
If we understand theology this way, it becomes clear that Ratzinger's thought,
in keeping with the patristic tradition, is defined, not by an opposition [8]
between salvation history and its ontological unfolding, [9] but rather by a
mutual ordering of the two that constantly adheres to the "prae [logical and temporal priority] of God's
action". [10] This means that "faith in an actio Dei is antecedent to all other declarations of
faith", because for God,
it is precisely relationship and action that are the essential marks; creation
and revelation are the two basic statements about him, and when revelation is
fulfilled in the Resurrection, it is thus confirmed once again that he is not
just one who is timeless but also one who is above time, whose existence is known
to us only through his action. [11]
Defending this "primacy of God" [12] brings about a development in Ratzinger's
theology—as Dorothee Kaes explains—from a theology that originally
had a more pronounced orientation toward salvation history [13] to thinking
that is more characteristically metaphysical, [14] and this development occurs
as a response to the intellectual debates of a given time period. [15]
Since my dissertation on Ratzinger's ecclesiology is situated within the
context of the postconciiar developments in the Church, I was confronted with
the question about an adequate reception of that image of the Church that the
Second Vatican Council had outlined. In this regard, Ratzinger is not only a
contemporary witness, but also a theologian who, as Thomas Weiler [16] has
attempted to demonstrate, was himself able to exert influence on the Council's
ecciesiology. Although it is not my purpose simply to reverse Weiler's approach
and to maintain that the Council influenced Ratzinger the theologian, it is
still undeniable that there was a reciprocal effect [17] and that consequently Ratzinger
must be understood not only as an expert in the conciiar ecclesiology, as one
of those who helped to shape it, but at the same time also as one of its most
resolute defenders and as someone who continues to interpret and apply it
concretely in his writings.
Thus two sets of questions result for the development of my theme: first, an
inquiry into the Church's understanding of herself in Lumen gentium and, secondly, an investigation of Ratzinger's
ecclesial life and the main lines of his ecciesiology; which has been shaped by
his career. The first part of the dissertation, about Lumen gentium, will set out to provide the conceptual frame of
reference for the discussion of Ratzinger's ecclesiological outline in the
second part, whereby the fundamental themes of mystery, the People of God, and collegiality, which are structural elements of Lumen gentium,
serve as the main coordinates for the systematic development of the subject. I
have chosen them as guidelines for presenting Ratzinger's theology as well,
because he himself associates them with the authority of the Second Vatican
Council's Constitution on the Church. [18] In any case the second part does not
intend to make a detailed comparison with Lumen gentium; rather, it intends to show the importance of the
main ecciesiological themes of the Constitution on the Church in Ratzinger's
work, to note points of agreement or differences and modifications, and, where appropriate,
to point out changes in Ratzinger's approach. In this regard, the question of
how and when Ratzinger articulated the ambiguities [19] in Lumen
gentium will serve as a litmus test for
whether or not there was a change in his perspective. For this reason it is
necessary to pay special attention to the historical factor in our discussions.
This is accomplished, on the one hand, by tracing the principal stages of
development both for Lumen gentium
and for Ratzinger and, on the other hand, by explicitly examining the
historical context at pivotal points of the systematic treatment of the
subject. In this I am guided by the following suggestion of Weiler:
A thorough study of Ratzinger's postconciliar ecclesiological writings would of
course have to investigate which of Ratzinger's ideas remained unchanged and
where, if at all, a change can be noted. Why did that happen? And with regard
to the ideas that remained the same, one should ask whether they, in being
brought into a new historical and theological context, do not acquire a
different significance. Finally: Does the fact that Ratzinger's ideas remained the
same really correspond thoroughly to the Second Vatican Council, which was,
after all, in Ratzinger's view as well, "only the formulation of a task",
which is to say, the beginning of a fundamental change, the accomplishment of
which was (and is) still in the future? [20]
Before I outline the structure and division of my investigation, I should
clarify why I take up Lumen gentium
and not Gaudium et spes as the
frame of reference for my discussion of Ratzinger's ecclesiology, even though
the latter, in my opinion, would also be quite possible and reasonable. [21]
The answer is twofold: First, in keeping with Ratzinger's approach, I attempt
to shed light on the Church's intrinsic nature. For this purpose Lumen
gentium is a suitable reference. Moreover,
according to Wolfgang Beinert, the "other fifteen constitutions, decrees,
and declarations lead to this Council document or are derived from it".
[22] The second reason for my decision is related to the first. It can be
expressed precisely by means of a programmatic statement by Ratzinger of his
position in the year 1975:
An interpretation of the Council that understands its dogmatic texts as mere
preludes to a still unattained conciliar spirit, that regards the whole as just
a preparation for Gaudium et spes
and that looks upon the latter text as just the beginning of an unswerving
course toward an ever greater union with what is called progress—such an
interpretation is not only contrary to what the Council Fathers intended and
meant, it has been reduced ad absurdum by the course of events. Where the spirit of the Council is turned
against the word of the Council and is vaguely regarded as a distillation from
the development that evolved from the "Pastoral Constitution", this
spirit becomes a specter and leads to meaninglessness. [23]
Ratzinger traces the cause of this subsequent influence of Gaudium et
spes, which he regards as problematic, back
to the spirit of the preface. [24] In his opinion, the text of the Pastoral
Constitution serves as "a kind of countersyllabus" for many
theologians, who imagine that it "represents, on the part of the Church,
an attempt at an official reconciliation with the new era inaugurated in
1789". [25] But since "the world, in its modern form" cannot be
regarded as a homogeneous entity, the Church's progress cannot consist of
"a belated embrace of the modern world". [26] From this insight
Ratzinger derives the following basic rule, ten years after the end of the
Council: "We must interpret Vatican Council II as a whole and ... our
interpretation must be oriented toward the central theological texts."
[27]
The two reasons just outlined, Ratzinger's preference for an essential
ecciesiology and his partiality for the dogmatic documents of the Council, led
me to select Lumen gentium as the
background against which to present his ecclesiology. This means
simultaneously, however, that the "outward-looking" perspectives are
considered only in passing in this dissertation. This is true, specifically,
with regard to Ratzinger's statements on the complicated question of the
relation between the Church and the world [28] and his writings concerning ecumenism
[29] as well as interreligious dialogue [30] and, last but not least,
concerning the relation between the Church and Judaism. [31] My subject is
further limited by the fact that I concentrate above all on the initiatives
Ratzinger has taken as a scholar, and not on the contributions he has made to
theological discussion in his official, magisterial capacity, even though it
was impossible to avoid some overlapping on certain questions.
After these preliminary remarks concerning methodology, I would like to define
now more precisely the principal points of this dissertation and to explain its
structure. Part I, on the
Church's self-understanding according to Lumen gentium, comprises two sections, one historical and one
systematic. The latter is subdivided, following the sequence of the first three
chapters of Lumen gentium, under
the headings of "The Mystery of the Church", "The People of
God", and "The Hierarchical Structure of the Church and in Particular
the Episcopate". Because of their intrinsic relatedness, the themes of
chapters 4 through 8 of Lumen gentium on the laity (4), on the universal call to holiness in the Church (5)
on consecrated religious (6), on the eschatological character of the pilgrim
Church and her union with the Church in heaven (7), and finally on the Blessed
Virgin Mary; the Mother of God, in the mystery of Christ and of the Church (8)
are considered in the chapter on the People of God. In chapter I, on the mystery of the Church, an essential point is
the aspect of communio; here the
trinitarian communio is presented
as the origin and purpose of Church unity. In chapter 2, in keeping with the Dogmatic Constitution, I will
elaborate on the participation of the People of God in the priestly, prophetic,
and kingly mission of Christ—an aspect that plays a relatively insignificant
role in Ratzinger's ecclesiology In chapter 3, the college of bishops takes
center stage in my discussion. There I will examine above all the sacramental
understanding of the episcopal ministry and inquire about how the
"Preliminary Note of Explanation" added, to Lumen gentium should be evaluated, both historically and with
regard to its contents—a problem that was of decisive importance
especially for Ratzinger as one of the theologians at the Council.
Part 2 of this book deals with
Ratzinger's ecclesiology. It is structured along the lines of Lumen
gentium and treats in succession the principal
themes of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. In it I intend to show which
fundamental ideas Ratzinger adopts in his ecciesiology, which themes he
prefers, and which ones he modifies in his presentation or does not take into
account at all. As in the first part of this dissertation, the systematic
section is preceded by a historical section I, which discusses the "Outline of the
Ecclesiological Plan from a Biographical Perspective". In this
"prelude", the question of the consistency in Ratzinger's theological
thought is especially explosive. Section 2 deals at first, in chapter I, with the Church as sign of faith and mystery of faith. Three central
concepts of Ratzinger's ecciesiology are examined therein, namely, Body
of Christ, Eucharist, and communio. The chapter concludes with critical reflections on
the question of the subsistence of the Catholic Church. Chapter 2 is devoted to the Church as the People of God In it
I will point out Ratzinger's references to rabbinical theology so as to
demonstrate by means of concrete examples the ecciesiological consequences of
the scriptural unity of the Old and New Testaments that he insists upon. In
particular, this line of Ratzinger's reasoning is important also for the
controversial question of the ontological priority of the universal Church. The
chapter goes on to deal with his oft-repeated claim that the term "People
of God" has been misunderstood in a sociological sense, and the problem of
democratic structures in the Church is discussed along with the themes of
"relativism" and "majority rule". Comments on the section
"The Universal Call to Holiness" conclude the chapter. In this
context the importance of the mariological declaration for Ratzinger's
ecclesiology is stressed, but also the problem of the Church's sinfulness, with
reference to the verse from the Song of Solomon "I am black but
beautiful", [32] which has been applied to the Church, and with the
assistance of the image of the casta meretrix. The conclusion of the main part of my work is chapter
3, on Ratzinger's understanding of the
hierarchical constitution of the Church and, especially, of episcopal
collegiality By way of introduction, the latter is set forth as an ecumenical
paradigm, and then it is examined with regard to its origin, to the inherent
tension between collegiality and primacy, and to its pastoral implications. The
last part of this chapter is devoted to those emphases in Ratzinger's thought
that have changed so much over the course of time that one can speak of an
early and a later Ratzinger. Specifically, from his judgments on the value of
bishops' conferences and of the synod of bishops, it will become evident how the
later Ratzinger assigns a different theological weight to collegial formations
than the earlier Ratzinger did.
Part 3 presents a
"synoptic" overview. In summarizing, it compares the ecclesiology of Lumen
gentium with that of Ratzinger. My
concluding essay on the problematic position of modernity in intellectual
history, which is behind Ratzinger's ecclesiology, attempts to sketch an
outline of his thought against this backdrop and to pave the way toward a more
nuanced answer to the question of its continuity or discontinuity. Finally, in
a concluding remark, the liturgy is depicted as the hermeneutic locus of
theological ecclesiology, in keeping with the axiom lex orandi-lex credendi, so as the emphasize and reflect critically on what
is distinctive about Ratzinger's markedly eucharistic theology of communio.
ENDNOTES:
[1] J. Ratzinger, "Der Weltdienst der Kirche: Aurwirkungen von Gaudium
et spes im letzten Jahrzehnt",
IKaZ 4 (1975):439-54. Reprinted in Principles, 373-93, as the epilogue, "Church and World: An
Inquiry into the Reception of Vatican Council II". Citation at 393.
[2] HŠring, Ideologie, 21.
[3] We should mention here, for example, Stephan Otto Horn and Vinzenz PfnŸr as
representatives of Ratzinger's "circle of students". The names of the
members of this SchŸlerkreis ad
of those who presented papers at their gatherings were published in Mitte, 316f.
[4] See Stephan Otto Horn and Vinzenz PfnŸr, "Introduction", in Pilgrim
Fellowship, 9-16, citation at 12.
[5] See the foreword of W. Baier et al., eds., Weisheit
Gottes—Weisheit der Welt: Festschrift fŸr Joseph Kardinal Ratzinger zum
60. Geburtstag (Sankt Ottilien: EOS-Verlag, 1987), I:v.
[6] Principles, 171-90, citation
at 189.
[7] Horn and PfnŸr, "Introduction", 9-14, citation at 10.
[8] In this way, Ratzinger decisively distances himself from Bultmann's thesis
that "the word, the kerygma, is the real salvation-event, the
'eschatological event', that leads man from the alienation of his existence to
its essence. This word is present wherever it makes itself heard; it is the
always-present possibility of salvation for mankind. It is clear that, in the
last analysis, this primacy of the word that, as such, can always be spoken and
thus can be posited as always present, cancels the notion of a continuous
series of salvation-historical events" (Principles, 176), in that it separates a theologically
insignificant history from a theologically relevant "story". The
latter remains, in Bultmann's scheme, a "word-event" unconnected with
the historical events. Compare Kaes, 89f. Ratzinger sees in this opposition
between salvation history and metaphysics a problem that did not come so acutely
to the fore until after the Second Vatican Council. The reason for this may be explained
by the fact that "Vatican Council II did not link its debate on salvation
to the already existing patristic term dispositio (or dispensatio) but rather coined for itself, as a borrowing from the German, the
expression historia salutis.
Therewith we have also an indication of the source of the problem that, in our
century, has entered Catholic theology by way of Protestant thought" (Principles, 572).
[9] See ibid.
[10] Ibid., 185.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Pilgrim Fellowship, 284-98,
citation at 287.
[13] Along with G. Sšhngen, Ratzinger stresses "emphatically that the
truth of Christianity is not the truth of a universally accepted idea but the
truth of a unique fact" (Principles, 174). Cf. G. Sšhngen, Die Einheit in der Theologie (Munich: Zink, 1952), 347.
[14] For particulars, see Kaes, 86-88.
[15] Pt. 3, sec. 2, of this book, "Ratzinger's Ecciesiology against the
Background of Issues in Intellectual History".
[16] Cf. Weiler, 151-283, esp. 281-83.
[17] See J. Ratzinger, "Geleitwort" [preface], in Weiler, xiii;
similarly: G. Alberigo, "Die konziliare Erfahrung: SelbstŠndig
lernen", in Wittstadt, 2:679-98, esp. 688f.
[18] See Church 3-20;
"Ecciesiology", 123-52.
[19] Cf. Pt. 2, sec. 2, chap. 3, ¤ 4, "Aspects during the Council in
Tension with the Later Perspective", and pt. 3, sec. I, "Comparison
between the Main Lines of Lumen gentium and of Ratzinger's Ecclesiology".
[20] Weiler 315. In the same passage, Weiler cites J. Ratzinger, Die
letzte Sitzungsperiode des Konzils
(Cologne: Bachem, 1966), 73; cf. Highlights, 183. In 1996, Weiler declared (11f.) that, even
though the theme of "Church" is an important focal point in
Ratzinger's work as a whole, "it is astounding that so far relatively few
publications have been dedicated to this important aspect .... A monograph on
Ratzinger's ecclesiology has not yet appeared." Weiler did not consider
the unpublished dissertation of K.-J. E. Jeon, Die Kirche bei Joseph
Ratzinger: Unter- suchungen zum strukturierten Volk Gottes nach der
Kirchenlehre Joseph Ratzingers (unpublished
dissertation, Innsbruck, 1995). An extensive list of further publications on
Ratzinger's theology can be found in Weiler, 11f. Worth noting also is the
bibliography of secondary literature compiled by Helmut Moll under the title
"Rezeption und Auseinandersetzung mit dem theologischen Werk von Joseph
Cardinal Ratzinger", in Mitte,
309-15.
[21] It seems to me that Ratzinger's stance with regard to Gaudium et
spes deserves separate study, since
Ratzinger has grappled with this document on several occasions. He declared in 1975,
for example, that Gaudium et spes
is "the most difficult and, [along] with the 'Constitution on the Sacred
Liturgy' and the 'Decree on Ecumenism', also the most [consequential]"
Council document, on account of the problem of finding a suitable concept of "the
world" (Principles, 378).
[22] Beinert, "Kirchenbilder in der Kirchengeschichte", in
Kirchenbilder, Kirchenvisionen: Variationen Ÿber eine Wirklichkeit, ed. Beinert, 58-127, citation at III (Regensburg:
Pustet, 1995).
[23] Principles, 390.
[24] Cf. ibid., 379. For a more detailed discussion, see t. 2, sec. I, chap. 3,
¤ 1, Of this book, "The Council: 'The Beginning of the Beginning'?"
[25] Principles, 381, 382.
[26] Ibid., 390.
[27] Ibid.
[28] "See, for example, "Weltoffene Kirche? †berlegungen zur Struktur
des Zweiten Vati- kanischen Konzils", in Volk Gottes, 107-28. Cf. also "Der Christ und die Welt von
heute: †berlegungen zur Pastoralkonstitution des Zweiten Vatikamschen
Konzils", in Dogma, 183-204,
along with the commentary on articles 11-22 of Gaudium et spes, in LThK.E, vol. 3 (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1968), 313-54.
29 example is the striking essay entitled "Prognosen fŸr die Zukunft des
…kumenismus", in Mitte,
181-94. It also contains the so-called Ratzinger formula, which states that
"Rome must not demand more from the East by way of doctrine on the primacy
than was formulated and practiced during the first millennium." We will
treat this subject more thoroughly in this book in pt. 2, sec. 2, chap. 3, ¤
4.2, entitled "Concrete Forms of Episcopal Collegiality, as Variously
Interpreted".
[30] See, for example, Salt of the Earth, 243-55.
[31] See the first volume of the Urfelder series, which especially promotes
dialogue between Jews and Christians: J. Ratzinger, Many
Religions-One Covenant, trans. Graham
Harrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999).
[32] Song 1:5.
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Maximilian Heinrich Heim is a Cistercian priest and the Prior of the Abbey in Stiepel, Germany. He has a doctorate in theology and has
taught fundamental theology at the Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz in Austria. This study on the theology of Joseph Ratzinger won prestigious
awards, the Cardinal Innitzer Prize in Vienna, and the Johann-Kaspar Zeuss Prize in Kronach, Germany.
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