Catholic Scholars' Declaration on Authority in the Church

The Roman Catholic Church is one of the oldest religious institutions in the world. Its teachings, worship, moral code and church organization are set by a hierarchy of leaders: mainly the Pope, Bishops and local parish priests. The Church originates with Jesus Christ but it inherited a bureaucratic structure from the Roman Empire and feudalism from the Middle Ages.^[1]

In this Declaration, 200+ reform-minded theologians in the Catholic Church make proposals for changes in church governance. They demand a redefining of papal authority with more latitude for bishops in Synods and Bishops' Conferences, more power to selected groups of clergy and privileged laity in diocesan and parochial councils.

The Demands

The Declaration is made up of seven demands.

1. The role of the papacy should be redefined in line with the Vatican II Council so as not to hamper the exercise of authority by others in the Church. These ‘other’ authorities are spelled out under the next six headings.
2. Bishops should be given more autonomy, both as pastors of their dioceses and members of national episcopal conferences.^[2]
3. The Central Synod of Bishops should take part in deciding overall church policy, with and next to the Pope.^[3]
4. The laity should actively participate in church governance through pastoral councils on all levels.^[4]
5. Bishops and other church leaders should, to the extent possible, be elected more locally and democratically. The Vatican Council recommended democracy in politics. By implication, it is claimed, this applies also to selecting bishops. Moreover, the election of bishops used to be more local and democratic.^[5]
6. The Roman Curia needs to be reformed.^[6]
7. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith needs to be given independent, professional advisers. The implication is that it will then protect the freedom of academic research and expression, rather than suppress it.^[7]

The Declaration has been published in eight languages, with a fuller explanation of each of the seven demands in further documentation. It ends with the appeal: “The exercise of authority in our church should emulate the standards of openness, accountability and democracy achieved in modern society. Leadership should be seen to be honest and credible; inspired by humility and service; breathing concern for people rather than preoccupation with rules and discipline.”^[8]

Origin and Launch

The idea was born when a group of reform-minded Catholic theologians met at an international conference on 'Handing On the Torch' (Utrecht, 2010). They concluded that in many areas of the Church's life progress is blocked by an imbalance in the exercise of authority. Theologian and writer John Wijngaards spearheaded the effort to gather more information and documentation.^[9] Wijngaards, a priest who resigned from his ministry in 1998 and subsequently married, is primarily known for his early and consistent advocacy of women's ordination and for founding the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research.

The Declaration was opened for endorsement on 11 October 2012 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. That is why it was originally known as the ‘Jubilee Declaration’.^[10] However, since this name could be misunderstood as only indicating a passing event, it was soon changed into ‘Catholic Scholars’ Declaration’. It was decided that just as Vatican Council II took four years to run its course (1962-1965), so the Declaration will stay in the public domain for at least four years to present its blueprint for reform. Meanwhile enrolment for academic support increased and still continues.

The gathering of support for the declaration is done through networking. The academic signatories, or ‘sponsors’ as they have been called, have been invited by other sponsors. "We only invite persons who possess the academic qualifications and the experience of Catholic life that enable them to endorse the Catholic Scholars’ Declaration responsibly. No one is put on the list unless he or she has clearly indicated his/her endorsement of the Declaration.”^[11]

On the 5th of March 2013 the Catholic Scholars’ Declaration was publicly launched for England by an endorsement ceremony in the Houses of Parliament, London. Baroness Helena Kennedy, Lord Baron Hylton, and Professor Ursula King explained their reasons for becoming academic sponsors.^[12]

The Academic Signatories

The academic signatories of the Declaration include present and past leaders of the Church’s theological associations, such as The European Society for Catholic Theology,^[13] the Catholic Theological Associations of America,^[14] Great Britain,^[15] India, Ireland and Poland, la Asociación Española de Teólogos y Teólogas Juan XXIII,^[16] the Ecclesia of Women in Asia,^[17] the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians^[18] and the World Forum on Theology and Liberation.^[19]

Of the handful of bishops who signed the declaration were Australian Geoff Robinson (Australia). Other signatories include Mary McAleese (Ireland), Bernard Linares (Gibraltar), Erik Jurgens (the Netherlands), Siobhain McDonagh (Great Britain). The vast majority of the others are past or present professors from 140+ universities. Well-known reform-minded theologians signing the document were Leonardo Boff (Brazil),^[20] Hans Küng (Germany),^[21] Gregory Baum (Canada),^[22] Gotthold Hasenhüttl (Austria),^[23] Wacław Hryniewicz (Poland),^[24] Carlo Molari (Italy),^[25] Wilfrid Harrington (Ireland),^[26] José María Castillo Sanchez^[27] and Juan José Tamayo,^[28] John Haught,^[29] Leonard Swidler (USA).^[30]

Among the women are scholars known for their outspoken views. We note: María Pillar Aquino^[31] (Mexico), Kari Børresen^[32] (Norway), Christine Gudorf,^[33] Rosemary Radford Ruether,^[34] Sandra Schneiders,^[35] Elisabeth Schüssler-Fiorenza^[36] (all USA), Helen Schüngel-Straumann^[37] (Zwitserland), Teresa Toldy^[38] (Portugal), Mary Grey^[39] and Ursula King^[40] (both UK) and Marie-Theres Wacker^[41] (Germany). Other significant groups are the liberation theologians, the moralists, church historians, scripture scholars and canon lawyers.^[42]

Scholars exercise the ‘charism’ of both teaching and, occasionally, prophecy (1 Corinthians 12,4-11). This charism of theologians is another source of ‘authority’ in the Church – next to the authority of popes and bishops.^[43] The ‘Magisterium’ is reserved to the teaching authority of the Pope and Ecumenical Councils. The 13th-century Thomas Aquinas recognised the ‘professional magisterium’ of university professors next to the ‘pastoral magisterium’ of bishops^[44] and scholars were voting participants of Ecumenical Councils^[45]

References