Will the Catholic Church's controversial restatement of its belief about the church derail ecumenical dialogue? What does the future hold?
by Paul Kieffer
On July 11, 2007, the Vatican restated its position that the Catholic Church is the only true church established by Jesus Christ. In a brief document titled "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church," the Vatican's doctrinal office repeated controversial claims made in a doctrinal paper published seven years ago, "Dominus Iesus."
According to the Vatican, other Christian denominations may have certain elements of biblical truth, but they cannot claim apostolic succession—the ability to trace their bishops back to the apostle Peter. Rome therefore reasons that such denominations cannot properly be called churches.
The response of various Protestant leaders was to be expected. The idea that non-Catholic churches are deficient because they do not accept papal authority and the primacy of the pope generally caused offense and was seen as a blow to the interdenominational dialogue fostered by the late Pope John Paul II. On the other hand, the Vatican's unequivocal position gives a clear indication what the word ecumenical means for the Catholic Church.
The new Vatican document was signed by U.S. Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and personally approved by Pope Benedict XVI before publication. Pope Benedict is also the man responsible for appointing Levada to his position as the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog, a position that Benedict held before becoming pope. And it was Benedict himself who, as German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, wrote the paper seven years ago that first irked Protestants.
As part of his effort to establish a distinct church identity, Pope Benedict apparently wants to clarify some of the confusion resulting from the Second Vatican Council of 1964, when the term "sister churches" was used in reference to non-Catholic denominations.
