Karl Rahner and Pope Francis on Papal Ministry
Towards an Ecumenical Ecclesiology of Communion and Subsidiarity
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Karl Rahner’s ecclesial theology remains relevant for ecumenical work and specifically for the ecumenically thorny questions about papal authority and the infallibility doctrine. Rahner’s approach offers insight for unifying Christian churches in three ways: 1. prioritizing the papal office’s unifying role; 2. interpreting the doctrine of infallibility within an incarnate ecclesiology; and 3. contextualizing papal authority within a theology of communion and a subsidiarity administrative model. With this approach, infallibility is framed as a matter of doctrine and order, but a doctrine and order rooted in and reflecting the ‘sensus fidelium’. The pope is the ‘concrete guarantor of the unity of the church in truth and love’ 1 and not an absolute monarch. Rahner’s call for ecumenical reforms serves the mission of the whole church – the sacrament of the incarnate God – on the personal, parish, diocese, regional, and universal levels. Many monarchical symbols of the papacy have been retired in recent years with the papacy of Francis, marking a moment ripe for Rahner’s approach. The article concludes with a reflection upon how Francis’ ministry reveals a commitment to communion theology of the Second Vatican Council and the subsidiarity principle that embodies Rahner’s epistemological tolerance.
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4
Karl Rahner, The Content of Faith (New York: Crossroad, 1993), p. 75.
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5
Joseph Komonchak, ‘Subsidiarity in the Church: The State of the Question’, The Jurist [cua’s Journal of Canon Law] 48 (1988), p. 328. The article Komonchak references is Karl Rahner, ‘Der Einzelne in der Kirche’, Stimmen der Zeit 139 (1946/1947), p. 275, which is also available in Nature and Grace and Other Essays (London: Sheed and Ward, 1963).
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7
Ibid., p. 55. Punctuation amended for clarity.
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9
Karl Rahner, ‘Experience of the Spirit and Existential Commitment’, Theological Investigations xvi, pp. 27–28 (quoted from Michael Purcell, ‘Rahner amid modernity and post-modernity’, in The Cambridge Companion to Karl Rahner, ed. Declan Marmion and Mary E. Hines (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 203.
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11
See e. g. Karl Rahner, ‘Würde und Freiheit des Menschen’ in Kirche in den Herausforderungen der Zeit: Studien zur Ekklesiologie und zur kirchlichen Existenz (Sämtliche Werke 10) (Freiburg i. B.: Herder, 2003), p. 188.
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13
See Karl Rahner, ‘Über die Einheit von Nächsten- und Gottesliebe’, in Menschsein und Menschwerdung Gottes: Studien zur Grundlegung der Dogmatik, zur Christologie, Theologischen Anthropologie und Eschatologie (Sämtliche Werke 12) (Freiburg i. B.: Herder, 2005), pp. 76–91.
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16
See Karl Rahner, ‘Kirchenverfassung’, in Enzyklopädische Theologie: die Lexikonbeiträge der Jahre 1956 – 1973 (Sämtliche Werke 17/2) (Freiburg i. B.: Herder, 2002), pp. 1141–1145.
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17
See Karl Rahner, ‘Lehramt’, in Enzyklopädische Theologie: die Lexikonbeiträge der Jahre 1956–1973 (Sämtliche Werke 17/1) (Freiburg i. B: Herder, 2002), p. 324.
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20
See Karl Rahner, ‘Zur Theologie des Ökumenischen Gesprächs’, in Einheit in Vielfalt: Schriften zur ökumenischen Theologie (Sämtliche Werke 27) (Freiburg i. B.: Herder, 2002), p. 70. Rahner speaks of the ‘common faith in the midst of our existence by God’s grace’.
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28
Karl Rahner, ‘Ökumenische Theologie der Zukunft’, in Einheit in Vielfalt: Schriften zur ökumenischen Theologie (Sämtliche Werke 27) (Freiburg i. B.: Herder, 2002), pp. 117–118.
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29
Karl Rahner, ‘Zum Begriff der Unfehlbarkeit in der katholischen Theologie’ in Theologische Anthropologie und Ekklesiologie (Sämtliche Werke 22/2) (Freiburg i. B.: Herder, 2008), p. 697.
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30
See ibid., pp. 697–699.
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31
See ibid., p. 700.
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32
Denzinger/Hünermann 3116. See ‘Zum Begriff der Unfehlbarkeit in der katholischen Theologie’, p. 700: ‘New dogmas remain linked to the old ones as valid dogmas. A pope not respecting this in proclaiming a new dogma would reveal himself as a heretic, who has lost his magisterial authority.’
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36
Klaus Schatz, Papal Primacy: From its Origins to the Present (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1996), p. 167.
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49
See ibid., p. 967.
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50
See ibid., p. 958.
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51
Vincent of Lérins, ‘The Commonitory’, in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (Buffalo, ny: Christian Literature, 1894), Chapter 2.6.
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59
Joseph Komonchak, ‘Subsidiarity in the Church: The State of the Question’, The Jurist 48 (1988), pp. 309–313.
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60
Ibid, p. 313.
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62
Ibid., p. 12.
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63
Ibid., p. 16.
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69
Joseph Ratzinger, ‘Zur Frage der Unauflöslichkeit der Ehe: Bemerkungen zum dogmengeschichtlichen Befund und zu seiner gegenwärtigen Bedeutung’, in Ehe und Ehescheidung: Diskussion unter Christen, ed. Franz Henrich and Volker Eid (München: Kösel, 1972), pp. 35–56.
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Karl Rahner and Pope Francis on Papal Ministry
Towards an Ecumenical Ecclesiology of Communion and Subsidiarity
In: EcclesiologySearch for other papers by Nikolaus Knoepffler in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Martin O’Malley in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Karl Rahner’s ecclesial theology remains relevant for ecumenical work and specifically for the ecumenically thorny questions about papal authority and the infallibility doctrine. Rahner’s approach offers insight for unifying Christian churches in three ways: 1. prioritizing the papal office’s unifying role; 2. interpreting the doctrine of infallibility within an incarnate ecclesiology; and 3. contextualizing papal authority within a theology of communion and a subsidiarity administrative model. With this approach, infallibility is framed as a matter of doctrine and order, but a doctrine and order rooted in and reflecting the ‘sensus fidelium’. The pope is the ‘concrete guarantor of the unity of the church in truth and love’ 1 and not an absolute monarch. Rahner’s call for ecumenical reforms serves the mission of the whole church – the sacrament of the incarnate God – on the personal, parish, diocese, regional, and universal levels. Many monarchical symbols of the papacy have been retired in recent years with the papacy of Francis, marking a moment ripe for Rahner’s approach. The article concludes with a reflection upon how Francis’ ministry reveals a commitment to communion theology of the Second Vatican Council and the subsidiarity principle that embodies Rahner’s epistemological tolerance.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 984 | 76 | 15 |
| Full Text Views | 237 | 6 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 95 | 8 | 0 |
