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Perspectief 52 Prof. dr. Peter De Mey he is in favour of a decentralisation of the Church in which episcopal conferences play an important role. He for his part is convinced “that such local bodies can better judge what is right in a particular situation and what is useful for the Church than the Roman curia, which judges only from a distance and usually is thinking in the European if not the Italian way.” Secondly, he considers it “wise not to leave important decisions to one single bishop but to tie him in in the community of his fellow bishops, which, by means of an active exchange of opinions, can come to a more balanced judgement.” 26 This is not to deny of course that the texts we studied in this presentation sometimes also solicit critical remarks. In the forum on Evangelii Gaudium in the latest issue of the Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft un Religionswissenschaft the contributors from the Global South are particularly critical about the teaching on non-Christian religions in the apostolic exhortation. Paulo Suess finds it hard to believe that the pope himself wrote the statement that their “sacred expressions lack the meaning and efficacy of the sacraments instituted by Christ” (§ 254). 27 This is seconded by Felix Wilfred: “In short, while what Pope Francis has to say about the poor and poverty finds immediate resonance with Asian Christians, they would find the scant treatment of what for them is of an equally important concern, namely interreligious dialogue, as a serious limitation of this document.” 28 Words also have to be followed by deeds. One only has to consult the Vatican blog by Sandro Magister to also find some critical concerns on pope Francis. One of his concerns is, as he wrote on August 1, that “the collegiality of governance is more evoked than practised. The style is that of a superior general of the Jesuits who in the end decides everything on his own.” 29 I hope however to have sufficiently shown that the teaching of pope Francis on catholicity as missionary outreach and as unity in diversity is of great ecclesiological and ecumenical relevance. 26 Peter Henrici, “Die Bischofskonferenzen: Ihr zukunftsträchtiger Beitrag zur Einheit der Kirche,” Internationale Katholische Zeitschrift Communio 2014, 156-164, p. 162. 27 Paulo Suess, “Kirche im Aufbruch,” Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft und Religionswissenschaft 98 (2014) 127-132, p. 132. 28 Felix Wilfred, “Evangelii gaudium – Reflections from Asia,” p. 141. 29 http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/?eng=y

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