Protestant Groups React to Bashing from Vatican
persecution4christ
Tuesday, the Vatican published a document that asserts that Protestant denominations are not true churches. The document, “Responses to Some Questions Regarding QCertain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church,” reaffirmed Catholic teaching that the one true church of Christ is the Catholic Church.
This document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has caused dismay with several Protestant groups. They are concerned with the text’s assertion that Protestant communities are not churches because there is no apostolic succession.
“Christ ‘established here on earth’ only one church,” said the document. The other communities “cannot be called ‘churches’ in the proper sense” because they do not have the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ’s original apostles.
The Rev. Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, in an open letter addressed to Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said, “An exclusivist claim that identifies the Roman Catholic Church as the one church of Jesus Christ … goes against the spirit of our Christian calling toward oneness in Christ. It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogue with the Reformed family and other families of the church. It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity.”
Kasper responded that despite the initial “irritation among Protestant Christians,” a closer reading of the text would lead one to conclude “that the document does not say anything new.” He claims the text provides a synthesis of Catholic teaching.
“The document does not say that the Protestant churches are not churches, but that they are not churches in the precise sense, that is, they are not churches in the way that the Catholic Church uses the term ‘church,’” he said.
Thomas Wipf, president of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, sees things differently. He claims that preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments is what defines the Church of Christ.
“That – and no more – is needed to be able to be seen as an authentic expression of the one church of Christ … We recognize the Roman Catholic Church as a church. It is and remains regrettable that this is not made possible the other way around,” he said.
Kasper asserts “that which unites us … is greater than what divides us. For that reason, one should not skim over what the declaration affirms in a positive way about the Protestant churches, and that is that Jesus Christ is effectively present in them for the salvation of their members. The document renders a service to clarity and, consequently, to progress in the dialogue.”
persecution4christ
Tuesday, the Vatican published a document that asserts that Protestant denominations are not true churches. The document, “Responses to Some Questions Regarding QCertain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church,” reaffirmed Catholic teaching that the one true church of Christ is the Catholic Church.
This document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has caused dismay with several Protestant groups. They are concerned with the text’s assertion that Protestant communities are not churches because there is no apostolic succession.
“Christ ‘established here on earth’ only one church,” said the document. The other communities “cannot be called ‘churches’ in the proper sense” because they do not have the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ’s original apostles.
The Rev. Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, in an open letter addressed to Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said, “An exclusivist claim that identifies the Roman Catholic Church as the one church of Jesus Christ … goes against the spirit of our Christian calling toward oneness in Christ. It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogue with the Reformed family and other families of the church. It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity.”
Kasper responded that despite the initial “irritation among Protestant Christians,” a closer reading of the text would lead one to conclude “that the document does not say anything new.” He claims the text provides a synthesis of Catholic teaching.
“The document does not say that the Protestant churches are not churches, but that they are not churches in the precise sense, that is, they are not churches in the way that the Catholic Church uses the term ‘church,’” he said.
Thomas Wipf, president of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, sees things differently. He claims that preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments is what defines the Church of Christ.
“That – and no more – is needed to be able to be seen as an authentic expression of the one church of Christ … We recognize the Roman Catholic Church as a church. It is and remains regrettable that this is not made possible the other way around,” he said.
Kasper asserts “that which unites us … is greater than what divides us. For that reason, one should not skim over what the declaration affirms in a positive way about the Protestant churches, and that is that Jesus Christ is effectively present in them for the salvation of their members. The document renders a service to clarity and, consequently, to progress in the dialogue.”
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