Bishops Flex Muscles at Secret Synod

The Synod of Bishops, which is holding its first meeting in Rome throughout October, was proposed at Vatican II five years ago by Cardinals Suenens, Frings, Lercaro, and Montini as a means by which the bishops would play a part in governing the church with the pope. When Montini became Pope Paul VI and set up the synod, its function shifted; it is now a governing body to advise him.

The Pope now seems much more pessimistic than his bishops. “Great dangers confront the church,” he warned the 196 prelates on opening day. Then came the doctrinal document drafted by Cardinal Ottaviani and his Congregation of Faith (formerly the notorious Holy Office), which listed all the heresies and errors the church is facing.

The synod, in effect, rejected the document as far too negative in tone, and elected eight of its members to meet with four papal appointees and within ten days work out a redraft. After the synod’s first week, reporters from the Netherlands—the nation that is the chief target of conservatives—decided that the Pope has discovered he has been grossly misinformed by his nuncios and his mostly Italian, mostly conservative Curia. As the doctrinal debate closed, the Pope scheduled audiences for national groups of the synod bishops to sound out their opinions, perhaps on birth control.

Unlike Vatican II, the synod met in severe seclusion, without observers or guests. Incredible restrictions on the press were ordered on opening day, including a ban on interviews with synod members. Most Italian papers were so piqued they boycotted the synod in their columns for days. Only the Vatican press officer (who speaks no English) was allowed to attend. He prepared extremely short, general, and nameless press releases.

But Rome would not have been Rome if a religious black market had not sprung up within twenty-four hours. For stiff prices, journalists were able to buy mimeographed copies of the bishops’ speeches on the floor.

The bishops began by discussing reformation of outdated canon law, and apparently they were as little interested in the topic as the reporters. One bishop said the study document was extremely vague, presenting some principles for a new ecclesiastical lawbook that may take a decade to prepare. Canada’s Cardinal Leger said all traces of “Roman law” should be discarded in favor of a pastoral tone to emphasize that Christian living is not merely “observance of certain external laws.” Many supported him. As in doctrine, a special committee will sift comments from the floor and probably come up with another document for synod vote.

The real discussion began October 5 when the synod received the report, “Dangers Which Threaten Faith, and Atheism.” In his opening speech, Paul had warned against the naturalistic thinking of theologians who are more influenced by secular ideas than by the teaching authority of the church, and who “forget the right rules of the faith in order to select those truths which agree with their personal preferences.”

Observers felt the Pope was trying to push the discussion in a certain direction, but it soon became evident that the bishops weren’t to be pushed that easily.

The Ottaviani document listed dangers of modern thought and asked the bishops what should be done for a counterattack. The great majority of bishops had little interest in such a strategy, feeling the dangers were overemphasized and wrongly interpreted.

Brotherhood

A power struggle in the Lutheran Brotherhood—fraternal insurance and loan society with 600,000 policyholders and assets of $405 million—ended this month. Vice Chairman Arthur Lee was named board chairman, replacing the ousted Carl Granrud, 71, an executive for twenty-seven years. A war of words and court action followed last month’s convention when anti-Granrud forces won board seats from L. Edwin Wang, chief pension officer of the Lutheran Church in America, President J. A. Preus of Concordia Seminary, and two others.

Cardinal Alfrink of the Netherlands, once called a progressive, did his best to help the drafters save face by emphasizing that the document should be considered, not as a synod report, but only as a working paper that doesn’t require a formal yes-and-no vote. He then proceeded to warn that the crisis of faith in the West will only increase. Authentic faith, he said, must be adapted to reach the hearts of modern men in diverse social settings; traditional preaching no longer suffices; the message of salvation must be translated into the terms of our time; and the church should be thankful for theologians who devote their lives to this task.

Leger, more blunt, said that the document didn’t distinguish between real errors and unhappy formulations and that he would vote against it. Soon the suggestion was made that an international committee of theologians be set up in Rome to study the key problems of today. The plan, still rather vague, is clearly an attempt to take responsibility away from Ottaviani’s office. An international theological academy in Rome was also proposed.

All the synod documents were supersecret, but National Catholic Reporter provided a lengthy report on the contents of the doctrinal statement that shows many well-balanced assertions. The statement says that “the resurrection of Christ is a true, real, historical and personal fact.” On the Virgin Birth, it says the church has always confessed “both the full and perfect humanity which Jesus receives from Mary, truly virgin and truly mother, and the divine sonship of the [Only Begotten] who has no other father on earth than the God of Heaven and earth by whom he is born ‘before all ages.’ ”

The section on biblical revelation warns against two dangers: a theology that does not give Scripture enough prominence, and a naturalistic explanation of the Bible. The document says original sin is not merely “the sum total of actual sins” nor a “symbol of the ambiguity of man’s condition.”

The agenda for the rest of the synod is mixed marriages—a key ecumenical irritant—followed by seminaries and then liturgical changes. A continuing topic, particularly after adjournment, is what the synod really is, what its authority will be, and what the pope will do with its ideas. Whatever else happens, Cardinal Suenens revealed that the Pope “rejected the whole idea” of having future popes elected by the Synod of Bishops instead of the College of Cardinals.

C.O.C.U. SLOWED AT SEATTLE?

Both sides are claiming victory in last month’s Episcopal convention maneuvering over the Consultation on Church Union. The chief COCU delegate, Bishop Robert Gibson, Jr., and Ecumenical Officer Peter Day say they got what they wanted: authority to prepare a specific merger document at upcoming COCU meetings.

But COCU critic Carroll Simcox, who edits the independent Living Church, interprets the convention as being “determined not to go ahead and negotiate a plan of union.” He says lack of authority for proceeding to COCU’s critical next stage is “clear, and a matter of record.” Simcox refers to a phrase inserted from the floor that directs Gibson’s delegation to the ten-denomination merger talks “not to negotiate entry of this church into such a plan of union.”

Another COCU foe, however, Executive Director Albert duBois of the American Church Union, admits that the Episcopal delegates are permitted to work on a plan of union but says the Seattle statement means the Episcopal Church “is not committed to one iota of it.” He says the ACU got what it wanted in Seattle: clarification that the COCU delegation is just talking and not acting for the church; elimination of blanket praise for COCU’s Principles of Church Union; and renewed stress on talks with the Lutherans, Orthodox, and Roman Catholics, all of whom are outside COCU. Nothing was said about the church committee on relations with “Pentecostal and Conservative Evangelical Churches,” which has been dormant for years.

In the legislative hearing on COCU, Gibson went along with all the ACU-type modifications, and he is as pleased with the results as duBois. “I think both sides came out thinking they won,” said the congenial Virginia bishop. He is certain his delegation is authorized to join in drafting the merger document.

Part of the confusion lies in the fact that the Seattle resolution bans “negotiation,” which in everyday language is exactly what COCU wanted the Episcopalians to do—to move beyond the talking stage. But “negotiation” has been dropped from the COCU lexicon because in certain church circles it implies committing denominational authority to the actions of the nine-man COCU delegations.

Ecumenical Fish Story

Enter culinary ecumenism. When Roman Catholic and Lutheran theologians held their fifth dialogue in St. Louis, the Catholics served meat (medallion of beef tenderloin) for Friday lunch. That night the Lutheran hosts served seafood (unshelled African lobster tail). The hotel bulletin board announced meetings of the “Lutheran Catholic Church.”

The theologians discussed the eucharist, and a press release said “substantial accord” was reached “in such points as the eucharist and the church’s sacrifice of praise and self-offering; the sacrificial presence of Jesus Christ in the Lord’s Supper; the once-for-all character and full sufficiency of the sacrifice of the cross.”

Day said that when the convention acted, national COCU Chairman David Colwell remarked to him that the Episcopal resolution was the same as the authorization from his United Church of Christ. Day said the decision for Episcopalians is “still whether to unité, not when or how.”

A possible result of Seattle is new emphasis on Episcopal distinctives. At the convention, the Archbishop of Canterbury said the Principles section on bishops should be rewritten “to make it clear that the episcopacy isn’t just people representing the Church, but is the continuation of an order in the Church of God.” And Day says “we’d better be pretty clear that we’re trinitarians” because ultimately COCU will have to face the question of unity among all the world’s Christians, 90 per cent of whom confess the Nicene Creed. At present, Principles does not require a creedal stance, in deference to the anti-creed Disciples of Christ. Day said that Episcopalians “strongly uphold the creeds” but that Disciples should be reassured from the church’s handling of Bishop Pike that creeds are not “clubs to beat you over the head.”

COCU may decide to send its “plan of union” back to the denominations on a piecemeal basis, Gibson said, to seek approval of various aspects of union on the installment plan. He still considers merger possible by the end of the 1970s if COCU decides on a federation of ten autonomous denominations with shared membership and ministry and eventual organic union. He thinks approval of COCU’s other basic choice, an amalgamation right from the start, would take considerably longer.

The Episcopalians and the Methodists—who will vote next spring on authorizing preparation of a merger document—form half the constituency of the proposed united church, and they are the only nationally distributed groups involved in the talks. The other eight denominations reportedly are concerned about this predominance, which would make a federated merger more likely than all-out amalgamation.

At the climax of his Seattle speech on COCU, Gibson said, “If you don’t mean us to go ahead—for God’s sake, for Christ’s sake—let’s vote this down.” The 1967 decision was a watershed. At the future convention when the Episcopal Church votes on merger, COCU proponents will point out that if the denomination didn’t mean business it should not have told its representatives to help write a plan of union, since the final document will be tailored to the wishes of the participating denominations.

450TH (AHEM) ANNIVERSARY …

For 450 years there was little dispute among Protestants that 1517 was the greatest year for Christianity since the first century. But the relatively sudden change that has come over Christendom during the 1960s has seriously threatened to alter the historical perspective.

“Now no one seems to know what to do,” says Decision. “The 450th anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing of his ninety-five theses to the Wittenberg church has come at a puzzling time. Protestant-Catholic relations are thawing, and no one seems to want to talk any more about the disputes of the past. The general feeling is that enough blood has been spilled over religion. A modern-day ‘Reformation’ service is quite apt to turn into an ecumenical festival in which the events of the sixteenth century are not even mentioned.”

Yet for all the ambiguities surrounding this week’s and this year’s Reformation commemoration, plenty of celebrations have been planned. An inter-Lutheran group serving as a clearing house for the anniversary put out a single-spaced list stretching across 6½ pages, and pointed out that this list included “only a small percentage of events.” Ironically, the entry that recurs most is “Life—New Life,” a serigraph exhibit by Sister May Corita. The exhibit consists of a series of contemporary and controversial color prints made by a special process.

That a Roman Catholic nun should play a large role in remembering the Reformation comes as no surprise in view of action last spring by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. The bishops approved the action of their committee on ecumenical and interreligious affairs in accepting an invitation extended by the Lutheran Reformation Anniversary Committee to observe the anniversary with joint projects. Accordingly, theological dialogues were set up for fourteen major metropolitan areas in the United States.

In Wittenberg, where it all began, special services were slated, but the East German Communist government seemed to be keeping advance announcements to a minimum. World Council of Churches chief Eugene Carson Blake served notice that he planned to be there, as did several officers of his United Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. Some felt there might yet be some visa problems.

For their part, the Communists issued commemorative stamps and a biography of Luther that concentrated on his early years.

Meanwhile, Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy promised to steal the Protestants’ thunder: it was announced that Patriarch Athenagoras of Istanbul would tour Europe in late October and early November and would call on Pope Paul VI. It will mark the first time that an Orthodox “first among equals” has visited the Vatican.

HEATON TO HEAD TWO

C. Adrian Heaton will now be president of both American Baptist seminaries in California. His board at California Baptist Theological Seminary, Covina, gave him unanimous consent this month to accept the presidency of Berkeley Baptist Divinity School.

The expected move (see July 21 issue, page 36) followed months of preliminary groundwork by denominational officials and a committee from the two seminary boards, mostly in an effort to save BBDS. The CBTS board spoke of “further unification” for the two seminaries, but one CBTS spokesman saw a “tremendous risk” in identification with more liberal, controversy-ridden, and debt-plagued BBDS. Some board members warned Heaton against any theological compromise that might jeopardize their seminary’s health. On the other hand, some BBDS teachers had warned that a conservative drift would result in their resignations.

For the BBDS board, choosing Heaton meant eating crow, since CBTS was founded in 1944 as a reaction to the more liberal stance of BBDS, which dates to 1871. Over the years some BBDS partisans have made no secret of their hostility toward CBTS.

EDWARD E. PLOWMAN

A SURGING SEMINARY

In an age of stagnant enrollments, one theological seminary has grown from thirty-one full-time students five years ago to 330 when classes started this month. The 130 new students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, were selected from more than 400 who paid application fees.

The growth began when the 44,000-member, theologically conservative Evangelical Free Church decided it couldn’t provide quality theological training unless it converted its Trinity seminary to large-scale, interdenominational operation. It chose Wheaton College’s Kenneth Kantzer, a Harvard Ph.D., to preside over the development as dean.

Today only one-fourth of the students and one-third of the nineteen full-time and fourteen part-time faculty are members of the EFC. Even so, Kantzer said, the EFC is willing to supply a $l,000-a-year subsidy for each student and $100,000 annually for buildings.

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