Pope calls for more collegiality, decentralization

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has called the Church to a renewal of its structures in view of its mission to proclaim the Good News in his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. In the document, the Pope speaks of a Church that is “mission-oriented” and in a “permanent state of mission”.

This is not a new idea, said Catherine Clifford, professor of theology at St. Paul University in Ottawa, Canada. French theologians of the 20^th century spoke of the necessity of the Church to understand its vocation in the world, and the Second Vatican Council picked up on this idea, she noted.

However, the Pope has been clearly “critical of a Church that is inwardly focused”, that has forgotten its responsibility in the world and “risks getting hung up on things of a secondary importance”, such as doctrinal and liturgical issues, Clifford said.

“He’s not saying they’re unimportant,” she clarified. “But the Church’s structure of prayer and teaching are all at the service of its mission and all have to assist and enable the baptized to live the Gospel daily.”

“If we can’t see the connection between liturgy and life, Church teaching and daily practice and daily witness, and especially this call to be of service, to be a community that is a compassionate presence of God’s love… they we’ve lost the heart of the Gospel message,” said added.

The Pope is calling on Catholics to readjust their focus and “to put the message of the Good News first,” she continued. He is asking the Church to re-examine its structures so that they are truly at the service of the Gospel.

COLLEGIALITY
The exhortation also calls for the need to develop a greater collegial spirit among the bishops.

“Collegiality was hotly debated at the Second Vatican Council,” Clifford said. Leading up to the Council, the vision of the Church was more pyramidal, and the bishops of the Catholic world had to recover a sense of their own co-responsibility as leaders of local Churches, she said.

The constitutions on the Church, which came out of Council, teach exactly this—that the bishops together are the representatives of Christ and share a co-responsibility in the life and mission of the Church.

However, many bishops were reluctant about debating collegiality at the Council because they feared it would diminish the authority of the bishop of Rome, she recounted.

“In fact, I think when it’s properly understood, (collegiality) shows even more the gift of the papacy to the Church, which is to be at the service of this communion among all the local Churches,” said Clifford. "So the bishop of Rome, his responsibility is to call forth all the gifts of the local Churches.”

DECENTRALIZATION
Pope Francis, she continued, wants to take the vision of the Second Vatican Council further.

“He is reversing the dynamics of centralization. And we’ve seen a lot of this in the last 30 years of the Catholic Church, where perhaps too much was centralized and dependent on Rome,” she said.

“He’s saying, we need to share this responsibility more and more; we need a greater measure of decentralization, but I will continue my ministry, the essence of my ministry, which is to support the bishops in their leadership as leaders of local Churches … and to support the communion of all the local Churches,” she said.

Listen to the full interview with Catherine Clifford:
Report and interview by Laura Ieraci