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The Role of the Petrine Ministry in the Ecumenical Relationship between the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Catholic Church

by Pater Biju Mathew (Author)
©2015 Thesis 451 Pages

Summary

This work deals with the role of the Petrine ministry in the ecumenical relationship between the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Catholic Church. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church traces her origin to the Church of St Thomas Christians, founded by St Thomas, the Apostle who reached the south Indian state of Kerala in 52 AD. The book explores the Ecclesiologies of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the St Thomas Christians of India and the Catholic Church from a dogmatic-juridical-historical perspective. The author tries to mediate between the two Churches in order to support them in the reviewing process of their history and Ecclesiology and re-establishing the unity for which Jesus Christ prayed: «Holy father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one» (Jn 17, 11). The author in his role as mediator makes a few suggestions for solving the problems related to the concept of the Petrine ministry on a universal level in the light of the Communion Ecclesiology of Vatican II, the studies of the various unofficial ecumenical dialogue commissions and the analysis of the experience of the Syro Malabar Church, one of the 22 sui iuris Churches in the Catholic Church.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Acknowledgements
  • Table of Contents
  • General Introduction
  • List of Abbreviations
  • Part 1 The Position of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church on Ecclesiology in her ecumenical Relationship with the Catholic Church
  • Chapter 1: The Ecclesiology of the Church of St Thomas Christians in the pre-Portuguese Period
  • 1.1 The Areas of Agreement with the Catholic Church
  • 1.1.1 The Origin of the Church of St Thomas Christians
  • 1.1.2 The Faith and Practice of the Church of St Thomas Christians
  • 1.1.3 The Absence of Division in the Church of St Thomas Christians till the Arrival of the Portuguese Missionaries
  • 1.1.4 The alleged Antiochian Relation of the Church of St Thomas Christians
  • 1.1.5 The hierarchical Relation and ecclesial Affinity with the Church of the East: No Obstacle to the Identity and administrative Autonomy in the Church of St Thomas Christians
  • 1.1.6 Mar Thoma Margam (the Way of Thomas): the ecclesial Patrimony of the Church of St Thomas Christians
  • 1.1.6.1 The Development of the indigenous ecclesial Identity of the St Thomas Christians
  • 1.1.6.2 The Development of the advanced ecclesial Identity through the East Syrian Influence
  • 1.1.6.2.1 The three Levels of hierarchical Structure
  • 1.1.6.2.1.1 The Local Level: Palliyogam
  • 1.1.6.2.1.2 The Community Level: The Archdeacon of All India
  • 1.1.6.2.1.3 The hierarchical Level: The Metropolitan of All India and the Holy See of St Thomas
  • 1.2 The Areas of Disagreement with the Catholic Church
  • 1.2.1 The Alexandrian ecclesial Relationship of the Church of St Thomas Christians
  • 1.2.2 The alleged Communion of the Church of St Thomas Christians with the Roman Catholic Church in the pre-Portuguese Period
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 2: The Division within the Church of St Thomas Christians after the Arrival of the Portuguese Missionaries
  • 2.1 The Synod of Diamper (1599)
  • 2.2 The Coonan-Cross Oath (1653)
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 3: The Ecclesiology of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
  • 3.1 The Nature of the Church
  • 3.1.1 The Origin of the Church
  • 3.1.2 The Church in the Pauline Letters
  • 3.1.3 The Church and the Apostolic College
  • 3.1.4 The pneumatological Dimension of the Malankara Ecclesiology
  • 3.1.5 The Church: various biblical Images
  • 3.1.6 The Church is One
  • 3.1.7 The Church is Holy
  • 3.1.8 The Church is Catholic
  • 3.1.9 The Church is Apostolic
  • 3.1.10 The Church and the Authority of Christ
  • 3.1.11 The Authority of the Church
  • 3.2 The Structure of the Church
  • 3.3 The Catholicos cum Malankara Metropolitan
  • 3.4 The Episcopate
  • 3.5 The Patriarch
  • 3.6 The Primacy on the Universal Level from the Perspective of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 4: The Position of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church on the Question of the Jurisdictional Papal Primacy of the Catholic Church
  • 4.1 The Lack of the biblical Foundation for the Jurisdictional Papal Primacy
  • 4.2 The Primacy of the Church of Rome because of Rome as the Imperial Capital
  • 4.3 No Jurisdictional Primacy, but only the Primacy of Honor of the Bishop of Rome at the Time of the Ecumenical Councils
  • 4.4 The Universal Jurisdictional Papal Primacy of the Bishop of Rome: A Medieval Western Fabrication.
  • Conclusion
  • Part 2 The Primacy in the View of the Catholic Church
  • Chapter 1: The Arguments of the Catholic Church in Answer to the Objections of the MOSC against the Papal Primacy
  • 1.1 The biblical Foundation of the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome
  • 1.2 The Primacy of the Church of Rome because of the Petrine Succession and the Apostolicity
  • 1.2.1 The Religious and Spiritual Significance of the Roman Church
  • 1.2.1.1 The Letter of Clement
  • 1.2.1.2 The Letter of Bishop Dionysius of Corinth
  • 1.2.1.3 The Letter of Ignatius of Antioch
  • 1.2.1.4 Irenaeus of Lyon
  • 1.2.2 The Sense of Responsibility of the Roman Church for the whole Church
  • 1.2.3 The Claim of the Bishop of Rome to be the Successor to Peter with Reference to Mt 16, 18
  • 1.2.4 Rome as the Centre of Communio
  • 1.3 The Primacy of the Bishop of Rome: Not mere Primacy of Honour at the Time of the early Ecumenical Councils
  • 1.3.1 Leo the Great and his Contribution to the Concept of the Jurisdictional Papal Primacy
  • 1.3.2 Symmachian Forgeries
  • 1.4 The Universal Jurisdictional Papal Primacy of the Bishop of Rome: No Medieval Western Fabrication, but the Result of a gradual Growth
  • 1.4.1 Gregory the Great (590–604)
  • 1.4.2 The Pentarchy
  • 1.4.3 The Pseudo-Isidorian False Decretals (850)
  • 1.4.4 The Donation of Constantine
  • 1.4.5 Jurisdictional Papal Primacy: Solution to the Problems and the Conflicts of the Second Millennium
  • 1.4.5.1 Pope Gregory VII (1073–1085)
  • 1.4.5.2 Innocent III (1198–1216)
  • 1.4.5.3 Innocent IV (1243–1254)
  • 1.4.5.4 The Decline of the Papacy and the Revival of Conciliarism
  • 1.4.5.5 The Reformation and the post-Trent Period
  • 1.4.5.6 Gallicanism
  • 1.4.5.7 The German Imperial Church Episcopalism and the judicial Powers of Nuncios
  • 1.4.5.8 The French Revolution (1789) and the Papacy
  • 1.4.5.9 The Ultramontanism and the Papacy
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 2: The Petrine Ministry in Vatican I and Vatican II
  • 2.1 The Petrine Ministry in Vatican I
  • 2.1.1 The historical Background of Vatican I
  • 2.1.2 The Polarization of the Council Fathers into the Minority and the Majority Camps
  • 2.1.3 The Document on the Church »Pastor aeternus«
  • 2.1.3.1 The Principle of the papal jurisdictional Primacy
  • 2.1.3.2 The Principle of the papal Infallibility
  • 2.2 The Petrine Ministry in Vatican II
  • 2.2.1 Lumen Gentium and the Petrine Ministry
  • 2.2.1.1 The Catholic Church in Relation to the Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome
  • 2.2.1.2 The Nature of the Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome
  • 2.2.1.3 The Episcopacy in Relation to the Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome
  • 2.2.2 Orientalium Ecclesiarum and the Petrine Ministry
  • 2.2.2.1 The historical Background of the Document Orientalium Ecclesiarum
  • 2.2.2.2 The Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome in Relation to the Individual Churches
  • 2.2.3 Unitatis Redintegratio and the Petrine Ministry
  • 2.2.3.1 The historical Background of the Document Unitatis Redintegratio
  • 2.2.3.2 The Unity of the Christians in Relation to the Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome
  • 2.2.4 Christus Dominus and the Petrine Ministry
  • 2.2.4.1 The Episcopacy in Relation to the Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 3: The Post-Vatican Pronouncements of the Catholic Church concerning the Petrine Ministry
  • 3.1 Encyclicals and Apostolic Letters
  • 3.1.1 The Apostolic Letter A Concilio Constantinopolitano I (1981)
  • 3.1.2 The Final Report of the 1985 Extraordinary Synod
  • 3.1.3 Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus (1988)
  • 3.1.4 The Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (1994)
  • 3.1.5 The Apostolic Letter Orientale Lumen (1995)
  • 3.1.6 Ut unum sint (1995)
  • 3.1.7 The Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis (1996)
  • 3.1.8 The Apostolic Letter Motu proprio Ad Tuendam fidem (1998)
  • 3.1.9 Apostolic Letter Motu proprio Apostolos Suos (1998)
  • 3.1.10 The post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America (1999)
  • 3.1.11 The post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia (1999)
  • 3.1.12 Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (2000)
  • 3.1.13 The post-synodal Apostolic Letter Ecclesia in Europe (2003)
  • 3.1.14 The post-synodal Apostolic Letter Pastores Gregis (2003)
  • 3.1.15 Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus (2009)
  • 3.2 The Common Declarations of the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch
  • 3.2.1 The Common Declaration of Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I (1967)
  • 3.2.2 The Common Declaration of Pope John Paul II and the ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople (2004)
  • 3.2.3 The Common Declaration of Pope Benedict XVI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (2006)
  • 3.3 Documents of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
  • 3.3.1 Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some Aspects of the Church understood as Communion (1992)
  • 3.3.2 The Note on the Expression »Sister Churches« (2000)
  • 3.4 Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism
  • 3.5 The Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome in CCEO (1990)
  • Conclusion
  • Part 3 The Chances for an extensive Rapprochement between the Positions of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Catholic Church on the Petrine Ministry
  • Chapter 1: The Council Document Orientalium Ecclesiarum with regard to the Catholic Oriental Churches: Theory and Practice
  • 1.1 The positive and negative Aspects of the Document OE
  • 1.2 The State of the Syro Malabar Church in the Light of the Document OE
  • 1.2.1 The All-India Jurisdiction of the Father and Head of the Syro Malabar Church
  • 1.2.2 The Pastoral Care of the Migrants of the Syro Malabar Church
  • 1.2.3 The universal Scope for the Missionary Enterprise
  • 1.2.4 The Restoration of the ancient Heritage of the St Thomas Christians
  • 1.2.4.1 The Restoration of the Liturgy
  • 1.2.4.2 The Restoration of the Palliyogam
  • 1.2.4.3 The Restoration of the Office of the Archdeacon
  • 1.2.4.4 The Restoration of the Permanent Diaconate
  • 1.2.4.5 The Restoration of the proper Name of the Syro Malabar Church
  • 1.2.5 The Patriarchal Status of the Syro Malabar Church
  • 1.2.6 The Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome: Part of the Catholic Faith of the Syro Malabar Church
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 2: The Petrine Ministry in the Wake of the new Suggestions of the different Non-official Institutions of Dialogue from all over the World
  • 2.1 Ecumenical Foundation Pro Oriente
  • 2.1.1 The five non-official Ecumenical Consultations
  • 2.1.1.1 Communiqué: the second Ecumenical Consultation (1973)
  • 2.1.1.2 Communiqué: the third Ecumenical Consultation (1976)
  • 2.1.1.3 Communiqué: the fourth Ecumenical Consultation (1978)
  • 2.1.1.4 Communiqué: the fifth Ecumenical Consultation (1988)
  • 2.1.2 The Study Seminars
  • 2.1.2.1 The first Study Seminar 1991: Primat
  • 2.1.2.2 The second Study Seminar 1992: Councils and Conciliarity
  • 2.1.2.3 The third Study Seminar 1994: Ecclesiology
  • 2.2 Saint Irenaeus Joint Orthodox-Catholic Working Group
  • 2.2.1 Communiqué-Chevetogne (2006)
  • 2.2.2 Communiqué-Belgrade (2007)
  • 2.2.3 Communiqué-Vienna (2008)
  • 2.2.4 Communiqué-Kiev (2009)
  • 2.2.5 Communiqué – Magdeburg (2010)
  • 2.2.6 Communiqué – Petersburg (2011)
  • 2.3 The Bensheim Institute for Inter-Confessional Research
  • 2.3.1 The Concept of Petrine Ministry according to the Evangelical Church in Germany
  • 2.4 The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation
  • 2.4.1 An Agreed Statement on the Church (1974)
  • 2.4.2 Apostolicity as God’s Gift in the Life of the Church (1986)
  • 2.4.3 An Agreed Statement on Conciliarity and Primacy in the Church (1989)
  • 2.4.4 A Common Response to the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church regarding the Ravenna Document: “Ecclesiological and canonical Consequences of the sacramental Nature of the Church: ecclesial Communion, Conciliarity and Authority” (2009)
  • 2.4.5 Steps towards a Reunited Church: A Sketch of an Orthodox-Catholic Vision for the Future (2010)
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 3: Suggestions for a possible ecumenical Rapprochement between the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Catholic Church on the Point of the Petrine Ministry
  • 3.1 The Erection of a triadic Structure for the Catholic Church in Accordance with the Communion Ecclesiology
  • 3.2 The Erection of a permanent Synod for the Catholic Church
  • 3.3 The Constitution of a new Electoral College for the Election of the Head of the Catholic Church
  • 3.4 The Convocation of a particular Synod of the Bishops of the Catholic Oriental Churches for Deliberations on the Role of the Petrine Ministry in the Catholic Church
  • 3.5 The Need for the Catholic Church to give sufficient theological Reasons for the Absence of the Title “Patriarch of the West” in Annuario Pontificio 2006
  • 3.6 The Enlargement of the Fields of practical Co-operation
  • Conclusion
  • General Conclusion
  • Bibliography

General Introduction

The splits, conflicts, disunity, enmity and competition among the Churches have tarnished the image of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ in the course of many centuries. The Church of Christ flourished in the early centuries all over the world in local Churches which were established by the apostles and their disciples and lived in communion with each other. The necessity of defining the apostolic faith in the midst of diverse theological expressions, heresies and misleading theological tendencies created a chaos in the ecclesial arena in the Roman Empire. On the one hand heresies were defeated and schisms occurred; on the other hand diverse theological expressions and terminologies of the various theological schools did not get due recognition and acceptance and were suspected and condemned by the Ecumenical Councils. The excessive ecclesial politics and the undue authority of the Roman Emperor to interfere in ecclesial affairs, even in the definition of faith and the organization of ecclesial life, worsened the situation. A uniformity-oriented unity of the Church was his chief concern and primary priority in ecclesial politics. The Councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451) caused major splits in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church only due to misunderstanding, arrogance and uniformity-mania. The next division occurred in 1054 and the Byzantine Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church started a new phase of independent growth.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches developed an Ecclesiology of the autocephalous Churches on the basis of the Communion Ecclesiology and the Oriental Orthodox Churches also developed their own Ecclesiology without having any communion with the Church of Rome. The Church of St Thomas Christians in India too developed her own Ecclesiology “the Law of Thomas” since its establishment by St Thomas, the Apostle and it grew further in communion with the Church of the East in Persia. Her geographical isolation did not offer her any chance to enjoy the communion of other Churches including that of the Roman Church in practical terms. The divisions in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church paved the way for the disappearance of the Communion Ecclesiology in the Roman Catholic Church. A new centralistic papal monarchy based on the theory of the Petrine ministry of the Bishop of Rome came into existence in the ← 15 | 16 → Roman Catholic Church. The development of the unilateral Roman Ecclesiology was detrimental to the ancient Communion Ecclesiology of the undivided Church of Christ. The climax of the Roman Ecclesiology was the definition of the jurisdictional papal primacy and the papal Infallibility in Vatican Council I in 1869–70. The Vatican Council II proved to be a necessary anticlimax of the growth of the Roman Ecclesiology by re-discovering and re-affirming the Communion Ecclesiology of the first millennium. The Catholic Church launched a new move called ecumenism to realize the prayer of Christ “that they all may be one” through the implementation of the Communion Ecclesiology. The Vatican Council documents LG and OE are the theoretical declaration of the Catholic Church which ensured the status of the Catholic Oriental Churches as Individual Churches with their right to restore their entire rite with autonomous hierarchies. The restoration of the status of the Catholic Oriental Churches in accordance with the ancient Communion Ecclesiology of the undivided Church of Christ is seen as the first step in the project of the re-establishment of the unity of the Church of Christ.

The other Christian Churches had already launched upon an innovative ecumenical movement in 1920s and it became an organized body under the name of the World Council of Churches in 1948 even before the Catholic Church took the initiative to strive for the Christian unity. Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Church of the East, innumerable Protestant Churches and all possible Christian sects and denominations joined the WCC for achieving Christian unity. Being a founder-member of the World Council Churches, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is one of the pioneers in the field of international ecumenical movement. She has been active in the ecumenical movement since 1930. Paulose Mar Gregorios describes it in the following words: “The Indian Orthodox Church has taken an active part in the Ecumenical movement ever since 1930. In general the Oriental Orthodox had accumulated a good deal of ecumenical experience already by the time Pope John of beloved memory opened the doors and windows of the Roman Catholic Church to let in the ecumenical wind”1. The Oriental Orthodox Churches re-established their communion and started functioning as a family of Sister Churches since 1965. Thereafter the family of the Oriental Orthodox Churches set new priorities with the goal of achieving communion with the Byzantine (Eastern) Orthodox ← 16 | 17 → Churches2. Meanwhile the Catholic Church also started an ecumenical movement by establishing official Dialogue Commissions to achieve the unity of the Christian Churches after the historic event of Vatican Council II.

The Catholic Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church entered into an ecumenical relationship in 1980s. A Joint International Commission for Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was constituted as the direct result of the meeting of the heads of the two Churches, His Holiness Pope John Paul II and His Holiness Moran Mar Baselius Marthoma Mathews I in Kottayam in 1986. “The Joint Commission was assigned the task of discussing and establishing the areas of agreement as well as to find avenues where the two Churches could come to a better understanding. Its first meeting was held in 1989 and resulted in the historic declaration on Christology. The agreement stated that while the two Churches had developed their Christologies in their own historical contexts, there was no essential disagreement in their belief in the One Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect Man. Since then, the Joint International Commission has been meeting every year and over the past twelve years, alternatively being hosted by the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Sophia Centre, Kottayam) and the Catholic Church (Spirituality Centre, Manganam). It has resulted in a better appreciation of the history, practice and beliefs of the two Churches. The dialogue process is undertaken through the working of Sub-commissions in four main areas: Sacramental Theology, History of the St Thomas Christians, Inter-Church Marriage and Common Witness of the Church. While all the discussions have not resulted in such momentous agreements as the Declaration on Christology, it is a matter of encouragement that substantial areas of convergence in beliefs on various issues have been recorded”3.

The goal of the constitution of the Joint International Commission for Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the MOSC is the achievement of eventual full communion. Fundamental things about the faith do not make any hindrance to the efforts to Christian unity, but the constitution and the governmental form of the Churches are the obstacles on the way to the realization of unity through ecumenical dialogue4. It applies also to the MOSC which professes ← 17 | 18 → the same fundamental Christian faith that the Catholic Church professes and the major obstacle to unity appears to be the concept of the Petrine ministry of the Bishop of Rome. The concept of the Petrine ministry is a major topic which is yet to be discussed in detail. Though this topic has already figured in the consultations of the Dialogue Commission, a detailed discussion on it is required for the further course of the ecumenical dialogue. Being a Catholic religious priest from Kerala/India, the homeland of the St Thomas Christians, belonging to the Syro Malabar Church, one of the Individual (sui iuris) Churches in the Catholic Communion, I have had a special interest in treating this topic in the framework of my doctoral dissertation.

0.1  The Scope

The office of the Petrine ministry is a pivotal aspect of the Ecclesiology of the Catholic Church. What the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Church of the East and the Protestant Churches have vehemently opposed in the history of the Church as well as in the consultations of the ecumenical dialogue is the concept of the Petrine ministry of the Catholic Church. Pope Paul VI admits that the papacy of the Catholic Church is an obstacle to the unity of the Christian Churches: “That we, who promote this reconciliation, should be regarded by many of our separated brothers as an obstacle to it, is a matter of deep distress to us. The obstacle would seem to be the primacy of honour and jurisdiction which Christ bestowed on the Apostle Peter, and which we have inherited as his Successor” (No. 110)5. The MOSC is not an exception to the general attitude of the Christian Churches outside the Catholic Communion. The topic “the Role of the Petrine ministry in the Ecumenical Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church” has special scope for a doctoral dissertation because, (1) The MOSC does not accept the concept of the Petrine ministry of the Catholic Church, (2) The Joint International Commission for Dialogue between ← 18 | 19 → the Catholic Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has not yet taken it up for a detailed discussion, (3) a solution to the problems arising from the disagreement over the concept of the Petrine ministry is indispensable for the unity of the Christian Churches.

0.2  The Methodology

Though the topic lies in a multi-disciplinary milieu, the chief methodology used for the treatment of the present topic is dogmatic-juridical-historical. The goal of this doctoral dissertation is to find ways and means for a full communion of the MOSC and the Catholic Church by solving the problem of the jurisdictional papal primacy which still remains the biggest obstacle on the way to full communion. The chief concern of the topic is the re-constitution of the office of the Petrine ministry at the universal level in a future Universal Church by re-introducing the original concept of the Petrine ministry which is rooted in the Scriptures, in the common tradition of all the Churches in the early centuries and in the writings of the Fathers of the Church. The role of the Petrine ministry in the future Universal Church is dealt with here in the framework of the ecumenical dialogue between the MOSC and the Catholic Church. The MOSC belongs originally to the ancient undivided Church of St Thomas Christians and the ecclesiological roots of the MOSC are beyond doubt in the “Law of Thomas”, the ecclesial heritage of the St Thomas Christians. A dogmatic approach to the topic in a historical framework has been adopted in this work.

0.3  Limits

One of the major limits of this doctoral dissertation is that the MOSC does not possess a fully developed and systematically ordered Ecclesiology. The MOSC has not developed the concept of the Petrine ministry in the Ecclesiology; because the concept of the Petrine ministry has never been part of her Ecclesiology. The availability of the quantity of the material is a real problem since very less research has been done on this topic. The literature on the St Thomas Christians, especially on the MOSC, was mostly in Malayalam, the official language of the State of Kerala of the Indian Republic. The English translation of the Malayalam texts has been made by me. On the one hand the innovative nature of the topic is inspiring, but on the other hand the newness of the topic points to the limited quantity of material for the research. ← 19 | 20 →

0.4  The Division of the Work

The work is divided into three parts and again each part is divided into chapters. Part 1 deals with the position of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in her ecumenical relationship with the Catholic Church. Chapter 1 is on the Ecclesiology of the Church of St Thomas Christians in the pre-Portuguese period. There are areas on which both the MOSC and the Catholic Church agree and disagree. Chapter 2 analyzes the two historic events, namely, the Diamper Synod (1599) and the Coonan-Cross Oath (1653) which caused the division of the Church of St Thomas Christians. Chapter 3 is a study of the Ecclesiology of the MOSC. The position of the MOSC on the question of the jurisdictional primacy of the Catholic Church is studied in chapter 4.

Part 2 studies the primacy in the view of the Catholic Church. Chapter 1 is an exposition of the arguments of the Catholic Church in answer to the objections of the MOSC against the papal primacy. Chapter 2 deals with the concept of the Petrine ministry in Vatican I and II. Chapter 3 evaluates the development of the concept of the Petrine ministry in the post-Vatican pronouncements of the Catholic Church.

Part 3 explores the chances for an extensive rapprochement between the positions of the MOSC and the Catholic Church on the Petrine ministry. Chapter 1 is a critical analysis of the Vatican Council document OE both in theory and practice with respect to the Syro Malabar Church. Chapter 2 analyzes the new suggestions made by various dialogue commissions from all over the world to attain unity on the point of the Petrine ministry. Suggestions for a possible ecumenical rapprochement between the MOSC and the Catholic Church on the point of the Petrine ministry are made in chapter 3. A general conclusion is made at the end of it in order to summarize the ideas, arguments and suggestions to improve the ecumenical relationship between the MOSC and the Catholic Church. ← 20 | 21 →

                                                   

1.    Paulose Mar Gregorios, Ecumenical Priorities: an Oriental Orthodox looks at the Ecumenical Movement today, The Star of the East, No. 1, Issue 1, 1979, 12.

2.    Ibid. 12.

3.    John Panicker/Xavier Koodapuzha, Preface to Xavier Koodapuzha/John Panicker (ed.), Joint International Commission for Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Kottayam, 2001, 12.

4.    Peter Kistner, Das göttliche Recht und die Kirchenverfassung, Berlin, 2009, 11: „Der kirchlichen Einheit stehen heute offenbar weniger die Sachfragen des Glaubens im Wege, sondern die konfessionellen Unterschiede der Kirchenverfassungen. Bezeichnenderweise sind es öffentliche Äußerungen von Päpsten, die den kirchenverfassungsrechtlichen Kern des ökumenischen Anliegens bestätigt haben: Paul VI., der sein Amt als schweres Hindernis auf dem Weg zur Einheit verstanden hat, und Johannes Paul II., der in der Enzyklika „Ut unum sint“ zum Dialog über eine Erneuerung des Petrusdienstes eingeladen hat“.

5.    John Paul II, Ecclesiam Suam, 1964, http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_06081964_ecclesiam_en.html, 12.5.2011.

List of Abbreviations

Part 1

The Position of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church on Ecclesiology in her ecumenical Relationship with the Catholic Church

The Church of St Thomas Christians is the original name of the Apostolic Church of India which was founded by St Thomas, the Apostle. The single Church of St Thomas Christians has been divided into several Churches in the course of centuries due to the colonial intervention of various foreign Churches. The Syro Malabar Church, the Syro Malankara Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, the Marthoma Church, the St Thomas Evangelical Church, the Malabar Independent Syrian Church and the Assyrian Church of the East in Kerala are the major Churches which originally formed the ancient Apostolic Church of the St Thomas Christians which was founded by St Thomas, the Apostle. Among them the Syro Malabar Church and the Syro Malankara Church belong to the Catholic Church. The most crucial problem among these various Churches of the Indian subcontinent is the lack of unity which is the result of the different ecclesial affiliations due to historical vicissitudes. It caused the emergence of contradicting historical perspectives and the interpretation of the history of the Church of St Thomas Christians from different points of view influenced by the ecclesial affiliations of these Churches.

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Catholic Church entered into the ecumenical dialogue in the wake of the visit of Pope John Paul II to the Catholicos Moran Mar Baselius Marthoma Mathews I of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church at Kottayam in 1986. A Joint International Commission for Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was instituted and its first meeting was held in 1989. Though both these Churches agreed upon many basic matters, conflicting standpoints concerning ← 23 | 24 → the history and the ecclesiology of the Church of St Thomas Christians surfaced. It is impossible to have a common interpretation or even narration of the history of the Church of St Thomas Christians even to the historic event of the Coonan-Cross Oath (1653). The Catholic side of the Joint International Commission includes theologians of the Syro Malabar Church whose interpretation of the pre-Portuguese period differs on certain points concerning the Ecclesiology and hierarchical relationship of the undivided Church of the St Thomas Christians from that of the MOSC. The official position of the MOSC on the Ecclesiology of the undivided Church of St Thomas Christians forms the pivot on which her Ecclesiology revolves. Two momentous events which radically affected the Church of St Thomas Christians and led to the tragic split of the Church are the Synod of Diamper (1599) and the Coonan-Cross Oath (1653). The Catholic Church and the MOSC hold entirely different viewpoints in the interpretation of the tragic events of the Synod of Diamper and the Coonan-Cross Oath. These conflicting interpretations and the resulting standpoints have proved to be stumbling blocks on the way of ecumenism. The MOSC formed her own Ecclesiology based on the original Ecclesiology of the undivided Church of St Thomas Christians and her later ecclesial affiliation with the Jacobite Syrian Church of Antioch.

Another key aspect of the Ecclesiology of the MOSC is her strong opposition to the papal jurisdictional primacy of the Bishop of Rome. It seems that the MOSC has not developed a systematic treatise on her position on the jurisdictional papal primacy of the (Roman) Catholic Church. The reasons for this could be the following: (1) The MOSC does not find the need for writing such a systematic treatise, because she is convinced of the lack of biblical, theological and historical foundation for the position of the (Roman) Catholic Church concerning the jurisdictional papal primacy. (2) The MOSC seems to depend also on the common standpoint of the family of the Oriental Orthodox Churches who strongly oppose the jurisdictional papal primacy. (3) The main ecclesiological concern of the MOSC is the reconciliation of the faction which is loyal to the Patriarch of Antioch under a rival Catholicos installed by the Patriarch of Antioch. The rivalry, enmity, violence and the division in the MOSC through the illegitimate interference of the Patriarch of Antioch within the internal administration of the MOSC have become scandalous. The immediate concern of the MOSC is to end the problems with the rival faction within the Malankara Church and the illegitimate governmental intrusion of the Patriarch of Antioch whom the MOSC considers as her spiritual head. (4) As far as it is known, the MOSC only wants a peaceful co-existance and fruitful co-operation with the (Roman) Catholic Church on the universal level. (5) The greatest concern of the ← 24 | 25 → MOSC in ecumenism is the unity of all the Churches which originally belonged to the Church of St Thomas Christians till the Coonan-Cross Oath (1653). Since they all constituted a single Church and have the same origin and history of development, the immediate need is the unity of these Churches leading to Eucharistic communion.

The above-given arguments may be the possible reasons for the lack of a systematic treatise on the position of the MOSC on the jurisdictional papal primacy. However the theologians of the MOSC expressed the views of their Church on the papal jurisdictional primacy of the Bishop of Rome in the various meetings of the Joint International Commission for Dialogue as well as in the meetings of the unofficial dialogue of the Pro-Oriente Foundation in Vienna. I would like to deal with all these aspects related to the Ecclesiology of the MOSC in the four chapters of Part 1. ← 25 | 26 →

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Details

Pages
451
Year
2015
ISBN (PDF)
9783653046977
ISBN (ePUB)
9783653977004
ISBN (MOBI)
9783653976991
ISBN (Hardcover)
9783631654606
DOI
10.3726/978-3-653-04697-7
Language
English
Publication date
2014 (November)
Keywords
Syrische Kirche Oekumene Ekklesiologie Syro-malabarische Kirche
Published
Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien, 2014. 451 pp.

Biographical notes

Pater Biju Mathew (Author)

Biju Mathew (Fr Dhanyananda Oozhikattu MSJ) is a religious priest who belongs to the congregation of the Missionaries of St John the Baptist. He hails from the south Indian state of Kerala and belongs to the Syro Malabar Church. He did his PhD studies in Dogmatic Theology with a specialization in Ecclesiology at Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt (Germany). During his doctoral studies Biju Mathew was elected Superior General of the MSJ congregation in 2012 and serves the congregation and the Church in Kloster Heilig Kreuz – the Generalate of the congregation in Leutesdorf/Rhein, Germany.

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Title: The Role of the Petrine Ministry in the Ecumenical Relationship between the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Catholic Church
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453 pages