Roman Catholicism can seem to be a pairing of contradictions. It is both Catholic (inclusive, welcoming, absorbing) and yet at the same time it is Roman (centralised, hierarchical, institutional).
The former characteristic gives it its fluidity, the latter its rigidity. Certainly there are historical phases in which the Catholic prevailed over the Roman and there are different combinations in the way the two qualities are intertwined with each other.
For example, on the one hand, the Council of Trent (16th century) was very Roman with its dogmatic definitions and its excommunications of those who upheld Protestant convictions on the supreme authority of Scripture and salvation by faith alone. On the other, the Second Vatican Council (20th century) was very Catholic with its ecumenism towards non-Catholics and its embrace of the modern world.
The point is that Roman Catholicism is always in a tense balance between its two sides: Catholic and Roman. Rome is not only Catholic, otherwise it would dilute and disperse its institutional project centered on its hierarchical structures. It is not only Roman, otherwise it would become hardened in a closed system. It is both at the same time. An example of the Catholic and Roman dynamic is precisely at work these days and has as protagonists the ‘Synodal Path’ of the German Catholic Church and the Vatican, the Holy See.
For some years now the ‘Synodal Path’ (a Catholic initiative), has been underway in Germany involving bishops, lay people and religious associations. This series of meetings, discussions and papers has proposed innovations and changes to some consolidated Roman Catholic doctrines and practices. The German ‘Synodal Path’ has approved the female diaconate (in view of the ordination of women to the priesthood), the official recognition of homosexual couples, the relaxation of admission to the Eucharist to all those who come forward, etc. These are all very Catholic measures, i.e. inclusive, progressive, broadening the traditional stance of the Roman Church.
To try to restore order, in 2019 Pope Francis wrote a letter to German Catholics the essence of which can be summarised in this way: ‘The German Synod is fine, changes are fine to some extent, but always within the Roman structures and together with the whole ecclesiastical institution.’ This reminder went virtually unnoticed.
On 21 July the news came out that, fearing the rupture of the balance between the Catholic and the Roman, the Vatican issued a ‘Declaration of the Holy See’. The declaration essentially says two things: first, that the ‘Synodal Path’ is all right in so far as it does not change the well-established beliefs and practices of the whole universal church; second, its requests and recommendations can and should be brought within the broader Synod of Bishops on synodality that will take place in Rome in 2023.
This Roman initiative by the Holy See is just the latest in a series of continuous adjustments that keep the system in a dynamic equilibrium. Compared to theological liberalism, which pushes the accelerator of the historical Protestant churches on the reinvention of Christianity to adapt it to the dominant culture, Roman Catholicism is open to ‘development’ and ‘updating’ without losing its dogmatic committments and institutional structure.
For this reason Roman Catholicism is not interested in a ‘reformation’ according to the gospel. Rome wants to incorporate new and different emphases (e.g. evangelical, charismatic, traditionalist, liberal) without changing its sacramental and hierarchical self-understanding. Rome says it wants the gospel, but Rome also wants mariology, the papacy, the sacraments, traditions and devotions that are contrary to the gospel. If the tension between the Catholic and the Roman of Roman Catholicism is not broken and reformed by the truth of the gospel and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Rome will never really change: it will shift from here to there, always moving within the boundaries of its Catholic and Roman sides, but without getting closer to Jesus Christ.
