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Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote, “To live is to change, and to change often is to become more perfect.”

Welcome to another edition of All Things Catholic. I’m your host, Deacon Rudy Villarreal and I’m so happy you’re here! Together we are going to explore what it means to be Catholic. Today we are going to discuss a question raised by a friend in Switzerland – how the Church addresses change. This question is a great one to discuss in the light of Pope Francis’ post-synodal exhortation on the Amazon, “Querida Amazonia.”

We’ll discuss Querida Amazonia in a future episode, but the point is that the Church seemed on the verge of a large number of changes and that begs the question, how does the Church approach change? Well, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus pointed out, change is the only constant in life. Change is a reality that must be faced. To avoid change can have all sorts of unintended consequences – some more dire than others to be sure.

All of creation is in a constant form of change. It is no different for humans or our institutions. The Church is an interesting phenomenon. There is the eternal form of the Church and the earthly interpretation of the Church. As C.S. Lewis described in the Screwtape Letters, number two, Screwtape tells Wormwood, “I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners.” That’s an apt description for the eternal form of the Church. But the human form of the Church, try as it might, is still very far from perfect. So how does the Church make adjustments?

Now, this is an important question because there are many Anglican clergy and laity who joined the Catholic Church in part because the tenants of the Anglican church changed quickly and perhaps too much. So, the mere discussion of change can be a little disconcerting to some, and understandably so.

There have been so many changes in the life the Church that it would be impossible to even try to list them all in this podcast. But perhaps one of the earliest examples of change concerned the questions raised over Paul’s missionary work and the Council of Jerusalem that we find in Act 15. The question was over the admission of Gentiles. Ultimately the Council agreed with Paul but made a few clarifications that would bind future missionary activity to the Gentiles.

As we walk through history, we will continue to see changes in the life of the Church throughout history right up to the present. There are many different ways change happens. Generally, I would say that change in the Church is slow and methodical, but that is not always the case. For example, the Church can change by Papal decree. One example of this is how Joseph was added to the canon in the mass. During the first session of the Second Vatican Council, the elderly and frail Bishop Petar Cule of Yugoslavia gave a long speech for the inclusion of Joseph. The presider, Cardinal Ruffini, cutoff Bishop Cule and moved on to the next speaker. Pope John XXIII, who was watching on close circuit television, on his own authority and without waiting for a recommendation from the bishops ordered Joseph’s name to be immediately added to the canon.

Other times, changes by papal decree are made after an exhaustive and deliberative process including consultations with bishops and theologians. The development of the Catechism and Canon Law are other examples of this process.

There are advisory committees at the Vatican which study various topics and issue reports from time to time. Popes are not required to act on these reports, but the reports can become part of the data used to advance a change over the course of time. Take for example the idea of ordaining women to the diaconate. The International Theological Commission of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has studied this question three times: from 1972-1974 for Paul VI, from 1992-1997 for John Paul II, and from 1997-2002 for both John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Three studies, three popes, but no outcomes. Pope Francis appointed a separate panel of scholars in 2016 to study the question again, and despite recent newspaper articles, I think the jury is still out on that one.

There are synods, special gatherings of bishops along with other clergy, consecrated religious, scholars and the laity to take up a specific set of questions, themes or handle specific disciplinary issues. Often synods are more local, but they can be requested by a Pope. The work of a synod is advisory.

Then there are ecumenical councils. These are gatherings of the world’s bishops generally at the request of a pope to take up questions of Church doctrine or discipline. The work of a council is legally binding on the Church. There have been approximately 21 ecumenical councils from the Council of Jerusalem that we find in Acts 15 that occurred within years of Jesus’ resurrection to the Second Vatican Council. Just over three hundred years mark the time between the Council of Trent (1545-4563) to the First Vatican Council (1870). It takes almost one hundred years before the Second Vatican Council to be called (1962-1965). So, the calling of a council is an extraordinary event, at least in the life of the Church over the last 500 years.

While there certainly are examples of big changes in the life of the Church, most changes are incremental usually occurring over time. Going back to the example of women deacons, while there has been a lot of study and discussion on the topic, some might argue that nothing has changed. But that’s not true. In 2009, Benedict made a small change to canon law to further distinguish deacons from priests. The change clarified that deacons do not act in the person of Christ the Head. Deacons who are empowered to serve the People of God in the ministries of liturgy, the word and charity, act in the person of Christ the servant. On one hand, this sounds like insignificant word play. But it has been suggested that this subtle change in canon law actually did two important things. It placed a codified limit on the priesthood to men and it opened the door to the possibility of women deacons.

I would suggest that this is a sign of an incremental change that may take centuries before it bears fruit. Actually, the entire diaconate is an example of incremental change. For reasons unknown, the diaconate as a separate order dies out sometime during the Middle Ages. It is revived in 1967 (more or less 500 years later) by Paul VI at the recommendation of the Second Vatican Council, but it was limited to men. The question of women deacons has continued to be studied off and on for almost fifty years. While this is disheartening for some, I think it is an example of change in the Church. I think we can describe change in the Church as a deliberative, if not slow, process.

Why?

I think that the Church tries very hard to be an authentic representation of the Christ’s church on earth. That means the Church is sensitive to not get swept away by fads, popularity and emotion. The Church is not in a popularity contest. The Church is about saving souls – period.

I think the Church is also sensitive to moving at pace that is comfortable for the majority. The Church takes seriously the threat of schisms and tries hard to keep the community of the faithful together. If I may use a hiking analogy, the Church tries not to move faster than the slowest person in the group.

Look, change happens. But when change happens in the Church, don’t assume that it is a knee-jerk reaction to anything. Try to remember that a lot of prayer, research, and time went into any change we experience in the Church.

Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

I’m Deacon Rudy Villarreal and next time on All Things Catholic, I think we’ll take up the question of the Amazon Synod and the Pope’s exhortation, “Querida Amazonia”.

You’re listening to All Things Catholic.

This episode was produced by deacon rudy’s notes. Our theme music was composed by Silent Partner. You can find all sorts of helpful information on the website at www.deaconrudysnotes.org. I’m your host, Deacon Rudy Villarreal. Join us again next time and don’t forget to watch for the weekend edition where we break open the Word. Peace!

References:

1. McGonigle, Tomas D. and James F. Quigley. A History of the Christian Tradition: From the Reformation to the Present. New York: Paulist Press, 1996.
2. The Bible: A Study Bible freshly translated by Nicholas King. Buxhall, Suffolk UK: Kevin Mayhew, 2013.
3. Zagano, Phyllis. “What’s the problem with women deacons?” U.S. Catholic, 26 February 2018, http://www.uscatholic.org/womendeacons, (accessed 3 March 2020).