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The
Light in the Darkness A Christian and Catholic vision at the turn of the millennium is here set
out by the emeritus Archbishop of Vienna in
conversation with our correspondent there, Christa
Pongratz-Lippitt. Starting from the recent Vatican
document Dominus Iesus, the cardinal ranges
over the ecumenical and interfaith dialogue in
which he has been a leading player, concluding
with his hopes for heaven. If you had written Dominus Iesus, what would you have emphasised? König: I appreciate the task of the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith to protect the unity of
the Church. In order to avoid adverse reaction, I
would certainly have taken into consideration one
important point: namely, how much the world has
changed, When I was young, I was only able to read
about other religions in books. Now our ecumenical
and inter-faith dialogue partners live among us as
neighbours and colleagues. We must ask ourselves
what it means to be a Catholic today among so many
other religions. This will be one of the most
important questions in the third millennium – a
very difficult question, which many will need help
with. The central thrust of Dominus Iesus is that Christianity alone has divine
faith – all the other religions have only human
belief. What do you think of this distinction? And,
as divine faith is necessary for salvation, does
this mean that members of other religions cannot
be saved? König: I agree that is the central thrust of Dominus
Iesus, and it risks shattering the confidence of
the other faiths in dialogue with us. Fortunately,
fundamental passages in the Second Vatican
Council’s constitution on the Church, Lumen
Gentium, can be used as cornerstones in this
discussion, so as to re-establish the broken
bridges and give them new strength and solidity.
The Vatican II document states quite clearly (16):
"Those who, through no fault of their own, do
not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but
who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart. .
. these too may attain eternal salvation."
And the text continues: "Nor will divine
providence deny the assistance necessary for
salvation to those who, without any fault of
theirs, have not yet arrived at an explicit
knowledge of God, and who, not without grace,
strive to lead a good life." Here we have a
firm basis for interreligious dialogue on which
the Church’s teaching can lean and on which it
has built. The Roman Catholic Church has always considered itself special. But are
the other Churches as deficient as Dominus Iesus
says? What is your view and what is your
interpretation of the passage in Lumen Gentium 8
which says that "the unique Church of Christ.
. . subsists in the Catholic Church"? König: The other Christian Churches are certainly not
gravely deficient in the modern meaning of that
term. In their modern connotation, especially when
reported by the media, those horrible words sound
offensive and rude. But this brings us to a great
difficulty which has not yet been solved. The
theological language in which official Vatican
documents are traditionally worded gives the
impression of being impersonal and cold. There is
no trace whatsoever of any personal contact, and
the human dialogue partner is missing and excluded.
It is a language cultivated by theologians and
addressed to bishops and theologians and it is not
easily understood by ordinary people without the
necessary preparation. Dominus Iesuswritten
in this language, which is greatly influenced by
the Latin terminology. Now, the meaning of the
Latin word "deficiens neutral – it
simply means "not complete". Rome has
meanwhile admitted that it did not expect such
worldwide reaction to Dominus Iesus. The second part of the question, about the famous word "subsists",
is indeed hard to answer. Already at the council
it was a very difficult question. How were we to
say that the Catholic Church was the Mother of all
Churches without offending? History tells us the
original facts about the formation of the
different Christian communities, but since then
they have grown organically so that today we are
in dialogue with their whole tradition. It is my conviction that we must discuss these matters on two different
linguistic levels. We should have one language for
the Catholic people and the media, and another for
the theologians – whether for Christian
ecumenical dialogue or for interreligious
dialogue. Theologians should not address a general
audience, but they tried to do so with Dominus
Iesus; although primarily for bishops’
conferences and theologians, it was also addressed
to Catholics in general. People need to be
prepared before a document like that is launched
on them. What we really need is a sort of adult
penny catechism, very clear and simple. Religion
has so many aspects and many people are so
confused and ignorant nowadays. Dominus Iesus does not give weight to the interpretation of revelation
that is yet to come. It suggests that we already
know all the basics. What do you expect or hope
for as far as future revelation is concerned? König: The Church’s answer and therefore the answer
in Dominus Iesus is quite clear – revelation is
finished. One very important question remains,
however – have we understood everything that has
been revealed? Might new personal insights not be
possible in the future? What do we mean when we
say that revelation is finished? Would it not be
possible for certain events to occur which would
give us, not new revelation – the answer of the
Church is clear on that – but a new
interpretation of revelation? That is probably what those engaged in building bridges between
Christianity and the other great world religions
feel. All these religions seek answers to those
ultimate human questions – where do we come from,
where are we going, what is the meaning of our
lives? If I believe in the activity of the Holy
Spirit the world over, maybe there are new
insights – not revelations – to come. We must
remember that most of our theologians are
westernised theologians. Do they really know
enough about a non-Western mentality as in Asia,
for instance? What missing answers do you hope will be revealed when you get to heaven? König: These are thoughts that I cannot define in
precise language, nor do I want to. But could it
be that since the Gospel message was revealed to
us by Jesus Christ, it has acted in the world
rather like leaven, affecting all humankind,
albeit indirectly? It does seem that other
religions are very much interested in Christianity
and what it means. When I was in Bombay with Pope Paul VI at the Eucharistic Congress, I
stayed with a Parsee family for three weeks. They
had two sons of 12 and 14. One day the parents
asked me if I would give their sons religious
instruction. "But I am a Catholic", I
said. That did not matter, they replied: they, too
believed in one God. I then asked one of the
relatives how often he prayed and he told me that
he prayed for exactly 15 minutes each day. The
prayers he used were old Parsee texts in a
language he could not understand. I expressed my
surprise. "But I know that they are religious
texts written by my ancestors and that they are
expressing something holy", he answered. We Christians believe that God spoke to all people through his son, Jesus
Christ: that God sent Jesus Christ to all people.
St John says of him: "The true light that
enlightens every man was coming into the
world." That, you notice, was before the
Incarnation, and before the Church. St John goes
on: "He was in the world, and the world was
made through him, yet the world knew him not. He
came to his own home, and his own people received
him not. But to all who received him, who believed
his name, he gave power to become children of God;
who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the
flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." And that brings us back to Our Lord’s question – the great question – in Matthew 16: "And who do you say that I am?" That is what awaits me – the full answer to that question – when I see him face to face. (The
Tablet, 23 / 12 / 2000) http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi?tablet-00481 [ Retour ] |
