Communion Ecclesiology and Social Transformation in African Catholicism

Between Vatican Council II and African Synod II

Idara Otu

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781532657504
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

In this book, Idara Otu, one of the new theological voices from Africa, rethinks ecclesiology in the changing context of a wounded and broken world. What does the Catholic Church in Africa look like post-Vatican II? This book creatively illuminates the intrinsic connections between ecclesial communion and social mission in the changing face of the church in Africa. The multiple levels of dialogue in African Catholicism, especially in the reception and contextualization of conciliar teachings, is redefining world Christianity. The author explores how dialogue, synodality, inculturation, leadership, human security, social issues, and social transformation are shaping the identity and mission of the church in Africa. This book also engages recent magisterial teachings and diverse theological voices in developing the praxis for the emergence of particular churches in Africa that are defined by the joys and sorrows of God's people. The book calls for a Triple-C church, revitalized through Conversion, Communality, and Conversation, as well as fostering integral and sustainable social transformation in Africa's contested march toward modernity.

Chapter 1

Vatican II: Communion Ecclesiology
and Social Mission

The Second Vatican Council was a beautiful work of the Holy Spirit, but after fifty years, have we done all that the Spirit asked us to do at the Council?

—Pope Francis

This chapter introduces the Second Vatican Council’s theological foundation for the church’s self-understanding as communion—a church sent by the triune God on a transformative mission to the world. For this reason, the chapter is lengthy as it kneads together the creative interplay and interconnection between ecclesial communion and social mission. The chapter reviews the biblical and patristic understanding of communio language, its appropriation among selected Roman Catholic ecclesiologies, and its intimations in the conciliar and post-conciliar documents. The chapter further explores the theological basis implicit in Gaudium et Spes in consonance with fulfilling the mission of social transformation. The chapter concludes with an exposition on the relationship between communion and mission.

Convened against the backdrop of anti-dogmatic movements, an essential focal point of the First Vatican Council (1869–70) was to define a systematic and comprehensive Catholic doctrine of the church. This conciliar agenda was only partially realized, due to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), which led to the suspension of the council. Nonetheless, Vatican I succeeded with the formal approval of Pastor Aeternus (PA), the “First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ.” This dogmatic text articulates certain fundamental teachings concerning the church: the institution of the apostolic primacy of Peter, the continuity and perpetuity of the primacy of Peter in the pope, the nature and power of papal primacy, and the definition of papal infallible teaching authority. Given this doctrinal exposition, Vatican I witnessed a theological validation of the visible aspects of ecclesial communion, with emphasis on ecclesial authority. According to Pastor Aeternus:

We therefore proclaim and declare that the Roman Church, by the Lord’s disposition, holds the primacy of ordinary power over all others, and that this power of jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff, true episcopal power, is immediate: all, pastors and faithful, of whatever rite and dignity, are bound to him, by the obligation of hierarchical subordination and true obedience, not only in the things that belong to the faith and customs, but also in those related to the discipline and government of the Church, throughout the world. In this way, having safeguarded the unity of communion and of the profession of the same faith with the Roman Pontiff, the Church of Christ will be one flock under one chief shepherd. (PA I)

This contributed to the accentuation of a centralized vision and hierarchical dimension of the church, in the years leading to the convocation of the Second Vatican Council. However, between the suspension of the First Vatican Council and the eve of the Second Vatican Council, the theological discourse was characterized by ingenious spiritual models for the theology of the church. This set the stage for enlightened conversations and engaging debates at the Second Vatican Council concerning the theology of the church—ecclesia ad intra and ecclesia ad extra.

It is within this context that the Second Vatican Council is often described as an ecclesiological council in light of the context and content of the entire conciliar corpus. As Karl Rahner remarked, the Second Vatican Council “in all its sixteen constitutions, decrees, and declaration, was concerned with the Church.”76 A critical reading of the conciliar corpus shows that all the documents are interrelated, with theological summations relating to the nature and mission of the church. Two of the conciliar texts, Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes, outstandingly focus on ecclesiology. These documents focus on the identity of the church ad intra and the mission of the church ad extra. This interpretation corresponds to the categories of communio (communion) and missio (mission) as essential paradigms of Vatican II ecclesiology of communion.

Biblical Foundations of Communion

The antecedents of the Catholic ecclesial self-understanding as communio emerged at the end of the twentieth century. Foremost is the adoption of the Reformation’s conception of communio as fellowship and the Orthodox notion of koinōnia in relation to both eucharistic and Trinitarian communion. Secondarily the Roman Catholic notion of communio, is grounded in patristic ressourcement and Roman Catholic eucharistic theologies.77 Each of these trajectories is distinguished conceptually, but interrelated and complementary in their application of the concept of koinōnia to express ecclesial communion.

The Greek koinōnia is commonly translated into Latin as communio and into English as communion or fellowship. The lexical root of koinōnia is the adjective koinos, which means “(in) common,” or “communal.” It denotes a sense of close participation and fellowship, pointing to a spiritual sharing in a common reality.78 The noun koinōnia is a derivative of the verb koinōneo, which can be translated as “to share,” or “to participate,” or “to fellowship.”79 This understanding of koinōnia expresses the sense of common participation and commonality, in contrast to the idea of what is private (idiom), which cannot be participated in, or held in common by every person.80 Though a mélange of cognate terms are derived from the etymological roots of koinōnia, the most pertinent Latin rendering is communio.

The philology of the Latin word communio has two roots: cum-moenus, which means “to have a common defense,” and cum-munus, which means “to...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• The Socially Transformative Power of Ecclesiology
• Introduction
• Vatican II: Communion Ecclesiology and Social Mission
• African Synod I: Church as Family of God
• African Synod II: Social Justice as Mission
• Conclusion
• Bibliography