Perspectief 2015-29

2015-29 Reaction from a Roman Catholic Perspective 43 Reag eer empowered with the gifts of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, to serve as its foundation and to oversee its mission.” Luckily the Catholics did not ask to only quote a truncated version of Ephesians 2:20, as happened in LG 19, where it was said that the Lord established “the universal Church on the apostles.” 2. The so-called ‘ecclesiology of elements’ is not only found in our text to describe the position of the Catholic Church, as in the following passage: “Currently, some identify the Church of Christ exclusively with their own community, while others would acknowledge in communities other than their own a real but incomplete presence of the elements which make up the Church.” (§ 10) Apparently all Christian churches are able to say in common: “While respecting the elements of truth and goodness that can be found in other religions and among those with no religion, the mission of the Church remains that of inviting, through witness and testimony, all men and women to come to know and love Christ Jesus.” (§ 25) Or yet at another place: “The ecclesial elements required for full communion within a visibly united church – the goal of the ecumenical movement – are communion in the fullness of apostolic faith; in sacramental life; in a truly one and mutually recognized ministry; in structures of conciliar relations and decision-making; and in common witness and service in the world.” (§ 37) I find this remarkable especially in light of the critique which has often been raised by non-Catholic observers against the ‘ecclesiology of the elements’ as developed in LG and UR. At the time of the Council it was feared that the Catholic Church had an ideal list of elements in mind and then classified the other churches according to which elements they lack. 3. When it is stated that “all members of the body, ordained and lay, are interrelated members of God’s priestly people” (§ 19) then a Catholic reader is immediately reminded of a much commented and misunderstood line in LG 10 stating that, “[t]hough they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated.” In Lumen Gentium, however, one has deliberately substituted the idea of being incorporated in the body of Christ to the terminology of membership which was dear to Pius XII and which could still be found in the early drafts of the dogmatic constitution on the Church. Whereas one cannot find the word