A/RC Document Stirs Controversy
Episcopal News Service. March 22, 1984 [84060]
WASHINGTON (DPS, Mar. 22) -- An assertion that "further studies are needed" on the question of the ordination of women to the priesthood is but one area where the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue in the U.S.A. has leapt straight into controversy in a paper on Christian anthropology published late last year.
The key to such studies concerns "the nature of representational imagery, especially as it applies to the Eucharist and the ordained ministry," the theologians of the ARC dialogue said.
Another question that needs to be resolved, they said, is whether the different practices of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches with regard to ordaining women are "doctrinal or disciplinary" in their nature.
The question of women priests was just one area touched by a new ARC document, "Images of God: Reflections on Christian Anthropology" released Dec. 22 after four years of work.
According to a statement from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the 9,000-word paper also:
- Cites both masculine and feminine images of God. While granting the predominance of masculine images in Scripture and Christian tradition, it rejects an exclusively masculine understanding of God.
- Rejects social norms or roles for women that treat them as inferior. "One cannot rightly appeal to Christian theology to justify" such treatment, it says.
- Rejects discrimination against the homosexually oriented but declares homosexual activity "morally wrong." A homosexual union cannot form the "one flesh" or "provide an image of God" needed for sacramental marriage, it says.
- Praises celibacy and consecrated virginity as an "eschatological witness." This witness complements and supports "the incarnational witness of the love between married persons," and "these vocations are mutually enriching," it says.
- Cites shared Roman Catholic-Anglican beliefs concerning Mary and the saints. It suggests that Roman Catholic beliefs about Mary and devotion to her need not be an issue that divides the churches.
The common thread running through the document's conclusion on such diverse topics as women priests, homosexuality and Mary is an attempt to understand the place of human sexuality in Christian anthropology -- in the understanding of humans as beings created in the image of God and redeemed in Jesus Christ.
The Catholic and Anglican theologians in the dialogue group stressed the importance of human sexuality, "whether male or female," as a reflection in the created order of "the creating and nurturing activity of the living God."
The Genesis text about God creating human beings, male and female, in his image "helps us to realize that the image of God resides not simply in the solitary human being, but even more in human beings in interpersonal relationships, the division of humankind into two sexes created a framework for interrelationships that images self-giving in God," they said.
In discussing Christ as the unique, ultimate revelation to humankind of the invisible God, they called for "careful and critical evaluation" of "the theological significance of Jesus' maleness."
They said that members of the dialogue disagreed, "not strictly according to church allegiance," over "the relevance of sexuality" in understanding how Christ reflects God.
The study document outlined the reasons given by the Vatican's doctrinal congregation for the official Roman Catholic position barring women from the priesthood and reasons given for admitting women priests by those in the Anglican Communion who support the ordination of women.
Without resolving the question itself, the authors said both churches need to study more deeply the question of "representational imagery" as it applies to the issue of whether a priest must be male in order to represent Christ, as he does in celebrating the Eucharist.
Referring to the "hierarchy" of Christian belief, the theologians also noted that "increasing numbers in both our churches" believe that "our differences (over women priests) need not separate us.
Regarding the role of Mary in Roman Catholic and Anglican life and belief, the theologians noted "Mary has played a far less prominent role in Anglican piety and theology than in Roman Catholic."
Both Roman Catholics and Anglicans honor the saints, they said, but Roman Catholics more frequently and easily "use the language of veneration."
On the Catholic dogmatic definitions of Mary's Immaculate Conception and Assumption, they said that "some Episcopalians could" accept those teachings "without contradicting their accepted formularies."
On the other hand, they acknowledged that Marian piety is "thought to be unnecessary by many Episcopalians"and said the Roman Catholic dogmatic definition "could not easily be accepted as requirements necessary to faith."
They suggested that the discussions of Christian anthropology offered "a significant beginning" for further discussions on Mary.
The U.S. national ARC dialogue is jointly sponsored by the (Episcopal) Standing Commission for Ecumenical Relations and the (Roman Catholic) bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. It is co-chaired by Bishop Theodore Eastman of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and Bishop Raymond W. Lessard of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah, Ga.