The Reform of the Papacy: The Costly Call to Christian Unity.

Tanner, Mary

John R. Quinn, The Reform of the Papacy: The Costly Call to Christian Unity, New York, a Herder and Herder Book, Crossroad Publishing Company, 1999, 189pp., $19.95.

The papal encyclical Ut Unum Sint is without doubt one of the most important ecumenical texts of the century. In it the bishop of Rome invites others to help him understand his ministry in the service of the unity of the church. Some churches have already responded. So too has the Faith and Order commission of the World Council of Churches. Archbishop Quinn's book is particularly important, for it offers a response to that invitation from within the Roman Catholic Church itself. It is one thing to react to the primacy of the bishop of Rome from outside the community of faith in which it is exercised. It is quite another to react from the experience of living within that community. It takes courage and involves not a little risk for a bishop -- an archbishop -- to do so publicly. Quinn's rigorous and incisive response is offered with great respect and obvious love for his own church but this does not lessen his conviction of the need for immediate reform. Throughout Quinn is conscious of the importance of the Petrine ministry for Christian unity,

The book begins with an analysis of Ut Unum Sint in which Quinn underlines again and again the "radical and precedent-breaking character" of the encyclical, noting that this has hardly yet been recognized. It is, in his words, a "revolutionary document". In it the pope says things that no other pope has ever said about the search for Christian unity, underlining the need for constant conversion (including the conversion of the pope himself), affirming the place of dialogue in the search for unity and the need to take the first step boldly, not only in relations with others but in the renewal of self.

Quinn summarizes what the bishop of Rome says about the doctrinal core of the papacy, the need to go back to examine the first millennium when communion was maintained not only by synodal and collegial action at the regional level, but also through the communion of all the patriarchs with one another and, in a special way, with the bishop of Rome. The brilliant analysis of the encyclical ends with the reflection that "there is no realistic hope for Christian unity unless the (Roman) Catholic Church is willing to take a serious look at itself as the bishop of Rome has asked".

In the following chapters Quinn does just that, looking at the place of reform and criticism in the church, the papacy and collegiality, the appointment of bishops, the functioning of the college of cardinals and the workings of the Curia. These are very much matters which concern other Christians as they contemplate unity with the Roman Catholic Church. In each matter Quinn sees the practice of the first millennium as crucial. Present-day problems and distortions of the tradition are clearly described, and the ways of reform indicated. In each chapter the point is made that the current practice in the Roman Catholic Church is inimical to Christian unity -- whether in respect of collegiality, or the appointment of bishops, or the workings of the Curia. Quinn rightly observes that in Anglican, Orthodox and Protestant dialogues there is no mention of abolishing the papacy as a condition for unity. Rather, there is a growing acknowledgment of how truly providential the papacy is. All the more important that reform comes now, from within, not least in relation to the exercise of collegiality and the reform of the Curia. Reform cannot simply be a condition for Christian unity set down in ecumenical talk. Rome's willingness to begin that reform now is a test of its ecumenical commitment, and would make it easier for other Christians who, like many Anglicans, feel the need for a universal ministry of primacy.

The pope's call to help him understand his ministry in the service of unity is, as Quinn says, "a unique moment in history". It is important not to lose that "moment of grace". What those who have responded to the invitation, including Archbishop Quinn himself, will be looking for is how the Roman Catholic Church will respond to their responses: Will there be conversion? Will reforms be made towards more effective collegiality? Will changes be made to the system of appointing bishops? Will the changes called for in the work of the Curia be made? Will room be found for the voice of the laity? Will the local church be encouraged to play its rightful place in the life of the church? Will excessive centralization give way to collegiality, subsidiarity? Will legitimate diversity be allowed to flourish as an antidote to centralization?

If the Roman Catholic Church can show other churches that it is able to take some steps in these directions, this would, as Quinn recognizes, be one of the most important advances towards Christian unity in the new millennium.

Quinn's book is informative and convincing. It will encourage those of us who believe in the role of the Petrine ministry for the visible unity of the church but who, like Quinn, are not uncritical of the present practice in the Roman Catholic Church. This book is a must for all those interested in the next steps towards the visible unity of the church.

Mary Tanner, the former moderator of the WCC's Faith and Order commission, was general secretary of the Council for Christian Unity of the Church of England, in London.