Pope's "true church" comment receives global flak

The Pope Benedict XVI's remarks in a published document that other Christian communities were either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation has come under heavy criticism worldwide with many Christian leaders asserting that it would make future church dialogue difficult.

The document says that Protestant denominations of the Reformation "have not preserved the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery [and] cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called 'Churches' in the proper sense."

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the document had been produced to correct "erroneous interpretations which in turn give rise to confusion and doubt."

The Vatican said Pope Benedict had "ratified and confirmed" the document.

"An exclusive claim that identifies the Roman Catholic Church as the one church of Jesus Christ, as we read in the statement released today [10 July], goes against the spirit of our Christian calling towards oneness in Christ," said the Rev. Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the Geneva–based World Alliance of Reformed Churches. The alliance groups 214 churches with roots in the 16th century Protestant Reformation.

In his letter to Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican's top official for promoting Christian unity, Nyomi said, "It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with the Reformed family and other families of the church. It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity."

Expressing veiled displeasure with the latest development, the World Council of Churches (WCC) spoke of "the importance of genuine ecumenical dialogue, and of common Christian witness on the problems facing the world today."

Using the term "catholic" in the sense of "universal," the WCC stated, "Each church is the Church catholic and not simply a part of it. Each church is the Church catholic, but not the whole of it. Each church fulfils its catholicity when it is in communion with the other churches."

The disappointment of the Anglicans was evident in the response of Canon Gregory Cameron, Dr. Williams's former chaplain in Wales and a leading canonical lawyer and scholar who is now ecumenical officer of the Anglican Communion.

"In the commentary of this document we are told that 'Catholic ecumenism' appears 'somewhat paradoxical.' It is paradoxical for leaders of the Roman Catholic Church to indicate to its ecumenical partners that it no longer expects all other Christians merely to return to the true (Roman Catholic) Church, but then for Rome to say that it alone has 'full identity' with the Church of Christ, and that all others of us are lacking," Canon Cameron said.

He said Anglican bishops had indicated in 1997 that such a position constituted "a major ecumenical obstacle."

"Nothing new is said, but it does clarify the way in which the Vatican has torn apart Christianity because of its lust for power. They remind us that in their view that to be a true church one has to accept the ludicrous idea that the Pope is in some special way the successor of the apostle Peter and the supreme earthly leader of the Church," Rev. David Phillips, General Secretary of the Church Society, said.

"These claims cannot be justified, biblically, or historically, yet they have been used not only to divide Christians but to persecute them and put them to death," Rev. Phillips said.

"We are grateful that the Vatican has once again been honest in declaring their view that the Church of England is not a proper Church. Too much dialogue proceeds without such honesty. Therefore, we would wish to be equally open; unity will only be possible when the papacy renounces its errors and pretensions," he added.

While the president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, Rev. Roy Cooper, expressed dismay at its content, a spokesman for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland pointed out that, in its view, it is the Roman Catholic Church that is in error.

"We regard the Church of Ireland as having full apostolic succession," Archbishop of Dublin, Most Rev. John Neill, a spokesman for the Church of Ireland, said.

Wilfred Weale, chairman of the religion and morals committee of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, responded sharply to Pope's statement saying, "We would take the opposite view, that any church that recognises the primacy of the pope is not a true church. Jesus Christ is the head of the church."

A spokesman for Egypt's Coptic Church, the largest Christian community in the Middle East, warned today that comments such as those expressed in the Vatican document "fan tensions and arouse negative emotions."

The liberal Catholic movement Wir Sind Kirche in Germany said the document was a "fresh and unnecessary slap in the face of the ecumenical community" and questioned whether the Vatican was serious about interfaith dialogue.

The Evangelical Church in Germany also termed it "a snub" for the interfaith community and "a major set–back" for the dialogue between churches.

Thomas Wipf, president of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, said the original characteristics of the church of Christ are preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments.

"That – and no more – is needed to be able to be seen as an authentic expression of the one church of Christ," he said. "The Gospel, and not apostolic succession in the sacrament of ordination, constitutes the church," he said. "We recognize the Roman Catholic Church as a church. It is and remains regrettable that this is not made possible the other way around."

In an interview with Interfax news agency, The Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, head of the Russian Orthodox office for ecumenical dialogue, said, "the document s an honest statement. It is much better than the so–called 'church diplomacy.' It shows how close or, on the contrary, how divided we are."

"The anguished response of Christians around the world to the Vatican's statement ... clearly indicates that what may have been meant to clarify has caused pain," wrote Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "Now is the time for our thoughtful and measured response. The question all Christian people should reflect on today is how best to exercise forbearance and love for one another."

The Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches said in a statement that Rome's position threatened past ecumenical progress. It added that it was concerned that the Catholics would "no longer be in universal communion with other churches."

A grouping of evangelical churches in Switzerland also condemned the Vatican publication. The Evangelical Alliance said the Christian church was not limited to one institution.

"The worldwide church consists of all people who have freely decided to give their life to Jesus Christ," it said in a statement.

"Hopes for a change in the ecumenical situation have again been pushed into the remote future," said Wolfgang Huber, Germany's top Protestant bishop.

"No one can speak any more of carelessness," Huber said. "This is a premeditated act."

The Pope faced similar criticism last year after he made remarks on the nature of Islam – associating it with violence – in his University of Regensburg lecture in Germany in September 2006 – a statement that triggered violent demonstrations in Muslim countries. The Pope subsequently said that his intentions had been misinterpreted and expressed regret that his words had caused turmoil.

Others were less harsh on the Pope.

"We are not the ones to whom this document is addressed. It is addressed to Catholics," said Ann Riggs, an associate general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA, which comprises most major American Orthodox and Protestant faith groups.

"Rome is certainly not saying the door is closed on ecumenical dialogue," she said in a statement.

"It's much ado about nothing. The text is meant for internal consumption, to reassure people," French Lutheran theologian André Birmelé said.

George Weigel, who has written biographies of Pope Benedict and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, said the document contains nothing new, and questioned why it had been issued now.

It "does not deny the presence of God's grace in other Christian communions, but the Catholic Church is never going to say ... that it is anything other than the most properly ordered expression of the will of Christ for his church," he said.

"If people do not want to contend with that, then ecumenism has simply become another form of political correctness," Weigel said.

"Christian communities which maintain a clear sense of their doctrinal and moral boundaries can not only survive the encounter with modernity, they can flourish within it. Whereas Christian communities which fudge their boundaries tend to wither and eventually die," he said.

Weigel, who sees Catholic identity as a matter of life and death for the church, believes Catholic identity and belief cannot be part of "options in a supermarket" if the church is to survive.

According to Chester L. Gillis, a Georgetown University theologian, a careful reading of the controversial document shows that the Pope was emphasizing how close the Catholic Church is to the Orthodox religion.

He said the document, along with endorsement of the Latin Mass, was "clearly part of an overall pattern, of a clear move toward more conservatism and toward muting the effects of Vatican II."

"It seems to me that the church is trying to send a signal about how they understand the Catholic Church vis a vis other Christian communities," he said.

The Rev. Sara MacVane of the Anglican Centre in Rome, said there was nothing new in the document.

"I don't know what motivated it at this time," she said. "But it's important always to point out that there's the official position and there's the huge amount of friendship and fellowship and worshipping together that goes on at all levels, certainly between Anglican and Catholics and all the other groups and Catholics."