The Old Catholic churches of the Union of Utrecht

Abstract

The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht have different historical backgrounds. The Dutch Church has her roots in the Catholic Counter‐Reformation, the German‐speaking Churches in the protest‐movements against Vatican I, and the Polish Churches in the problems of emigrants to USA. However, they adhere in common to the conciliar and synodical tradition of the Catholic Church. They lay stress on the relative autonomy of the local church, the episcopal apostolic succession, and the Eucharist as the manifestation of the Church. The autonomy of the local church is not seen as detached from the universal Church or the responsibility to stay in or to restore Church unity. This leads to an ecumenical engagement which has resulted in full communion with the Anglican Churches and a doctrinal consensus with the Orthodox Churches. Reference back to the undivided Church is a key feature of Old Catholic ecclesiology, though this does not lead to uncomplicated ecumenical solutions.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Acting in Faith : The World Council of Churches Since 1975, by Leon howell . Handbook of Member Churches , edited by Ans J. van der Bent . The Social Teaching of the Church , by John Desrochers     

The Eastern Catholic Churches and the paradox of Vatican II

The author investigates the challenges to Catholic ecclesiology presented by two Eastern Catholic Churches – the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church – as they assert prerogatives validated by the teachings of Vatican II. In their reception of the Council these Churches highlight the need to develop the Trinitarian and Eucharistic ecclesiology rediscovered by the Council. This practical development is mirrored in the progress of the International Roman Catholic–Orthodox Dialogue and the teachings of Pope John Paul II. Although a final resolution still awaits, it is evident in the treatment of the Eastern Catholics by the Vatican that reception of the Council demands a renewed understanding of the mutual interdependence of primacy and conciliarity. Such a development will only hasten Christian reunification.     

Karl Barth, the Church and the Churches – Edited by William G. Rusch (ed.)

Book reviewed:
Karl Barth, the Church and the Churches , William G. Rusch (ed.), William B. Eerdmans 2005 (0-8028-2970-8), xi + 59 pp., pb $12.00     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Systematic Theology Volume 2by wolfhart Pannenberg, translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley
The Church and the Churches: Toward an Ecumenical Ecclesiology by G. R. Evans
The Royal Priesthood: Essays Ecclesiological and Ecumenical by John Howard Yoder
The Promise of Pragmatism: Modernism and the Crisis of Knowledge and Authority by John Patrick Diggins
Barth, Derrida and the Language of Theology by Graham Ward     

Healing as Constitutive of Jesus’ Mission Handed to the Church

After a basic statement of the Catholic doctrine on healing ministry, this article adopts the understanding of the World Council of Churches’ document Healing and Wholeness: The Churches’ Role in Health, adopted in 1990 by the central committee. The document views health, healing, and wholeness not just as medical issues, but as embracing the political, social, economic, cultural, and spiritual dimensions. Building on the above, this article proposes an integral approach to sacramental healing for the African Catholic Church, arguing that alongside healing of physical ailments and deliverance from evil and malignant forces, healing must include working for social justice and peace for the people.     

Woman,Women, and the Priesthood in the Trinitarian Theology of Elisabeth Behr-Sigel

Abstract

This article arises from a critical examination of the way the human sexuality debate developed at national level within the United Reformed Church (URC) between 1997 and 2000. Documents that reflected the thinking of members of the Church were carefully examined in order to identify the issues that members of the URC considered fundamental to the debate. From this analysis three closely linked themes, which, it will be argued here form a circular argument, are reflected on theologically: homophobia, sexuality and changing traditional interpretations of the Bible. There can only be an end to the debate when the URC and other Churches are able to escape this circular argument. Taking the experience of South Africa after the apartheid years as a guide, the discussion concludes by exploring ways by which the Church might end the debate and move forward.     

The 1920 Encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Proposal for a “League of Churches”

In January 1920, the Ecumenical Patriarchate issued an encyclical – “Unto all the Churches of Christ Wheresoever They Be” – which has played a key role in the history of the ecumenical movement and the engagement of the Orthodox Church in it. The document was prepared by a group of theologians of the Ecumenical Patriarchate headed by Metropolitan Germanos (Strenopoulos). At the time of its publication, it had an official English version; however, it is usually referenced according to its later revised translation, undertaken in 1959 by W. A. Visser ’t Hooft. A significant difference is that the 1920 translation did not include what has come to be seen as the central feature of the 1920 encyclical: that is, the proposal to create a “League of Churches.” The article explores whether the revision is a more accurate translation of the Greek original or rather an interpretation of the encyclical that enshrines in the text its key concept – which was, however, not contained in the original document.     

Recent Books on Protestant-Roman Catholic Dialogues,Relations and Common Practices

Baptism and Eucharist: Ecumenical Convergence in Celebration, eds Max Thurian and Geoffrey Wainwright. Geneva: WCC, and Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1983, 258pp. (Faith and Order Paper No. 117). The Churches as Peacemakers? An Analysis of Recent Church Statements on Peace, Disarmament and War. Rome: IDOC-International, 1985, 88pp. Congar, Yves: Diversity and Communion. London: SCM Press, 1984, 232pp. (Translated from the French Diversités et communion. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1982). Derr, Thomas Sieger: Barriers to Ecumenism: the Holy See and the World Council of Churches on Social Questions. Maryknol, NY: Orbis Books, 1983, 102pp. Desseaux, Jacques Elisée: Dialogues théologiques et accords oecuméniques. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1982, 199pp. Dialogi Ecumenici Ufficiali: Bilanci e Prospettive, a cura di Donato Valentini. Roma: Libreria Ateneo Salesiano, 1983, 168pp. (Biblioteca di Scienze Religiose, 53). Ecumenical Perspectives on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, ed. Max Thurian. Geneva: WCC, 1983, 246pp. (Faith and Order Paper, No. 116). Die Eucharistie der einen Kirche — Eucharistische Ekklesiologie: Perspektiven und Grenzen, eds. Albert Rauch and Paul Imhof. Munich: Verlagsgesellschaft Gerhard Kaffke, 1983, 231pp. (Koinonia. Schriftenreihe des Ostkirchlichen Instituts Regensburg, Band III). Fries, Heinrich and Rahner, Karl: Unity of the Churches: an Actual Possibility. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, and New York: Paulist Press, 1985, 146pp. (Translated from the German Einigung der Kirchen — Reale Möglichkeit. Freiburg: Herder, 1983). Huwyler, Christoph: Das Problem der Interkommunion: Dargestellt anhand kirchlicher Verlautbarungen, Ökumenischer Dokumente und der theologischen Diskussion. Bad Honneff: Bock und Herrchen Verlag, 1984, 2 volumes. Lazareth, William H.: Growing Together in Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry: a Study Guide. Geneva: WCC, 1982, 107pp. (Faith and Order Paper No. 114). Local Ecumenism: How Church Unity is Seen and Practised by Congregations, ed. André Birmelé. Geneva: WCC, 1984, 37pp. Peace and Disarmament: Documents of the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. Geneva: (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, and Rome: Pontifical Commission “Iustitia et Pax”, 1983, 255pp. Wachsende Übereinstimmung in Taufe, Eucharistie und Amt: Hilfen zur Beschäftigung mit den Lima-Erklärungen. Im Auftrag der ökumenischen Kommission der katholischen Bistümer in Bayern, herausgegeben von Gerhard Voss. Freising: Kyrios-Verlag, and Paderborn: Verlag Bonifatius, 1984, 96pp. Wainwright, Geoffrey: The Ecumenical Moment: Crisis and Opportunity for the Church. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1983, 263pp.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Hermeneutics, the Bible and Literary Criticism (Studies in Literature and Religion). Edited by Ann Loades and Michael McLain. The Craft of Theology: From Symbol to System. By Avery Dulles. The Shape of Soreriology. By John McIntyre. Not the Cross But the Crucfied (Louvain Theological and Pastoral Monographs 1 1). By H.-E. Mertens. Verbum Curo: An Encyclopedia on Jesus, the Christ. By Michael O'Carroll. The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship: Sources and Methods for the Study of the Early Liturgy. By Paul Bradshaw. Worship: Initiation and the Churches. By Leonel L. Mitchell. The Eucharistic Mystery: Revitalizing the Tradition. By David Power. Church of Churches: The Ecclesiology of Communion. By J.-M. Tillard. God and History, Aspects of British Theology 1875-1914. By Peter Hinchliff. Clear Heads and Holy Hearts: The Religious and Theological Ideal of John Henry Newman (Louvain Theological and Pastoral Monographs 7). By Terrence Merrigan. The Desert Fathers on Monastic Community. By Graham Gould. John Moschos, ‘The Spiritual Meadow’. Introduction, translation and notes by John Wortley. A Gentle Touch. By David Pailin. The Eye of the Storm: Spiritual Resources for rhe Pursuit of Justice. By Kenneth Leech. The Church and the Arts (Studies in Church History 28). Edited by Diana Wood. Anti-Christian Polemic in Early Islam: Abu Isa al-Warraq's ‘Against the Trinity’ (University of Cambridge Oriental Publications 45). Edited by David Thomas. Bernardus Magister: Papers Presented at the Nonacentenary Celebration of the Birth of St Bernard of Clairvaux (Cistercian Studies Series 135). Edited by John R. Sommerfeldt. Church and City 1000-1500: Essays in Honour of Christopher Brooke. Edited by David Abulafia, Michael Franklin and Miri Rubin. ‘Piers Plowman’ and the Problem of Belief. By Britton J. Harwood. Ignutius of Luyola: The Psychology of a Saint. By W. W. Meissner. Jerome Naahl, S. J., 1507-1580: Tracking the First Generation of Jesuits. By William V. Bangert, edited and completed by Thomas M. McCoog. From Bishop to Witch: The System of the Sacred in Early Modern Terra d'Otranto. By David Gentilcore. Civic Politics in the Rome of Urban VIII. By Laurie Nussdorfer. Michel de Montaigne: The Complete Essays. Translated by M. A. Screech. Montaigne and Melancholy: The Wisdom of the ‘Essays’. By M. A. Screech. Religion and Philosophy (Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements 31). Edited by Martin Warner. What is Faith? Essays in the Philosophy of Religion. By Anthony Kenny. Truth and Hisroriciry. By Richard Campbell.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Amos Yong, The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh: Pentecostalism and the Possibility of Global Theology James F. Puglisi (Ed.), Liturgical Renewal as a Way to Christian Unity Pamela Cooper‐White, Shared Wisdom: Use of The Self in Pastoral Care and Counseling Philip Sheldrake, Editor, The New SCM Dictionary of Christian Spirituality Björn Rymann with Aila Lauha, Gunnar Heiene, Peter Lodberg, Nordic Folk Churches: A Contemporary Church History     

Impressions of the Church of Sweden: liberal and catholic with nuances of Lutheranism

The Church of Sweden is difficult to describe or to characterise, whether as a Folk Church, a national church, as catholic or liberal, or as, in some sense, Lutheran. This article refers to aspects of its complex relations with the Roman Catholic Church and with Lutheranism at large. The author detects, from ecumenical agreement and practice, an incipient new communion of churches, based on a common claim to be catholic and also to be open to developments in society. This group includes the Church of Sweden, the Church of England, the Episcopal Church in the USA, the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Philippine Independent Church, all of which are in communion with each other. The author's presentation is set out in relation to the Church of Sweden's liturgical and sacramental life, its church–state relations, and in an account of the rather asymmetrical shape of ecumenism in Sweden, in all of which the question of gender plays a role.     

Married with children: the experience of women ministers of word and sacrament in the United Reformed Church

The experience of women being admitted to full ministry has a much longer history within the Free Churches than in the Anglican Church, although from the way in which the Church of England debate on women priests and bishops has been reported this is often not acknowledged. The United Reformed Church (URC) has given equal access for men and women to ministry from the date of the union in 1972 between the Congregational Church and the Presbyterian Church. Both denominations have a long history of women in ministry. This paper examines the experience of 50 URC clergywomen who combine marriage, children and ministry to explore their experience of ministry, marriage and motherhood. The findings demonstrate that, overall, the women’s experience is mixed, although the general expectation among congregations and moderators is that women are the primary care‐givers within the family. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Schism in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church,Part 3: Under The Second Union of Democratic Forces Government, 1997-2001

Religion in China Today: Policy and Practice by Donald E. Maclnnis. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1989. Paperback, 458 pp.

No Longer Strangers, Selected Writings of Bishop K. H. Ting edited with an introduction by Raymond L. Whitehead. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1989. 199 pp.

Pol Pot Plans the Future. Confidential Leadership Documents from Democratic Kampuchea, 1976–1977. Translated and Edited by David P. Chandler, Ben Kiernan and Chanthou Boua. Monograph Series 33/Yale University South East Asia Studies Yale Center for International and Area Studies. 1988. Paperback, 346 pp.

The Church and Socialism in Cuba by Raul Gomez Treto. Translated from the Spanish by Phillip Berryman. Maryknoll, Orbis Books, 1988.

The Puzzle of the Soviet Church. An Inside Look at Christianity and Glasnost by Kent R. Hill. Portland: Multnomah Press, in co‐operation with the Institute on Religion and Democracy, 1989.417 pp.

The World Council of Churches and Politics 1975–1986 by J. A. Emerson Vermaat. New York: Freedom Press, 1989. Paperback, 128 pp.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: The Power Picture , by Estelle and Charles Mc Carthy . The Roman Catholic Church In England And Wales : A Short History , by E. E. Reynolds. The Pilgrim Continues His Way , translated by R. M. French . The Trinity and the Religious Experience of Man , by Raimundo Panikkar. Classical Approaches to the Study of Religion : Aims , Methods and Theories of Research. Kirchenkampf und Ökumene 1939-45: Darstellung und Dokumentation , by Armin Boyens. The Churches and Politics in Germany , by Frederic Spotts. Church , State and Opposition in the Ussr , by Gerhard Simon. Erlösung und Emanzipation , ed. by L. Scheffczyk. Zur Theologie der Welt , by Johann Baptist Metz.     

Is It Still a Movement?

In this address from 1971, the second general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Eugene Carson Blake, sets out the challenges facing the WCC at the beginning of the 1970s, identifying three key changes within the ecumenical movement: a shift in power and decision making away from the Protestant churches of North America and Western Europe; an organization more representative of churches in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and of Orthodox churches; and the ecumenical involvement of the Roman Catholic Church. It goes on to set out how the WCC, particularly since its conference on Church and Society held in Geneva in 1966, has been attempting to make Christian faith and morals relevant to a world experiencing rapid social, economic, and political change.     

Exercising a free conscience: The conscientious objectors of the Soviet union and the German democratic republic

Die ukrainische katholische Kirche (The Ukrainian Catholic Church) 2nd expanded edition Munich: Kirche in Not, 1989.165pp.

Die römisch‐katholische Kirche in der Sowjetunion (The Roman Catholic Church in the Soviet Union) Munich: Kirche in Not, 1989.143 pp.

Tserkva v Ruyini — Church in Ruins. The Demise of Ukrainian Churches in the Eparchy of Peremyshl by Oleh Wolodymyr Iwanusiw, Shevchenko Scientific Society Ukrainian Studies Volume 56. Ontario: St Sophia Religious Association of Ukrainian Catholics in Canada, 1987. Parallel text in English and Ukrainian. 350 pp.

Áron Márton a lelkiismeret apostola (Áron Márton, the Apostle of Conscience) compiled by László Virt. Budapest: Ecclesia, 1988. Paperback, 262 pp., 85 Ft.     

REVIEWS

Book reviews in this article: The Metaphor of God Incarnate, John Hick Philosophy and Theology in the Middle Ages, G. R. Evans, Routledge 1993 The Bible and Postmodern Imagination: Texts under Negotiation, Walter Brueggemann The Panther and the Hind: A Theological History of Anglicanism, Aidan Nichols The Body of God: An Ecological Theology, Sallie McFague Infant Baptism and the Gospel: The Church of England's Dilemma, C. Buchanan, Darton, Longman & Todd Discipleship of Equals, Elisabeth Schiissler Fiorenza The Renewal of Common Prayer: Unity and Diversity in Church of England Worship, M. Perham (ed.) A Theological Introduction to the Book of Psalms; The Psalms as Torah, J. Clinton McCann Jr, Abingdon Is God Real?, Joseph Runzo (ed.), Macmillan Asian Faces of Jesus, R. S. Sugirtharajah (ed.) Gaia and God: An Ecofeminist Theology of Earth Healing, Rosemary Radford Ruether Theological Dialogue between Orthodox and Reformed Churches, T. F. Torrance (ed.) The Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith, D. K. McKim (ed.) Eucharist: Christ's Feast with the Church, Lawrence Hull Stookey Hans Küng: New Horizons for Faith and Thought, Karl-Josef Kuschel and Hermann Hauml;Uring (eds), Our God Has No Favourites: A Liberation Theology of the Eucharist, Anne Primavesi and Jennifer Henderson Buddhism and Christianity: Rivals and Allies, Ninian Smart, Macmillan Hanging in Judgment: Religion and the Death Penalty in England, Harry Potter The Greater-Good Defence: An Essay on the Rationality of Faith, Melville Y. Stewart, Macmillan     

Book reviews

Balkan Babel: Politics, Culture and Religion in Yugoslavia by Sabrina Petra Ramet. Boulder, San Francisco and Oxford: Westview Press, 1992, xvi + 230pp. $44.95.

The Spring of Nations: Churches in the Rebirth of Central and Eastern Europe by J. Martin Bailey. New York: Friendship Press, 1991. 166pp. Paperback, $10.95.

The Christian Church in the Cold War by Owen Chadwick. London: Allen Lane the Penguin Press, viii + 230pp. £18.99, US$25.00, Can$29.99.     

Foreign Investments in Southern Africa

“If one believes in the Prince of Peace one must stop committing crimes in the name of the Prince of Peace. The Christian Church still rules this world, it still has the power to change the structure of South Africa.” James Baldwin in his address to the Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Uppsala, 1968.