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“Overcoming the Divisiveness of Babel”: The Languages of Catholicity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2014

Mary Jo Weaver*
Affiliation:
Indiana University

Abstract

Contemporary issues in the American Catholic Church can sound like a modern-day confusion of tongues making communication impossible. Furthermore, the traditional marks of the Church have supported the notion that dissent and controversy are to be discouraged. This article examines catholicity and shows that its definitions and uses in history have tied it to uniformity when its essential characteristic may well be the celebration of pluralism. Catholicity is placed in the context of modern mission theory in such a way that current challenges can be interpreted as so many new languages which require patient understanding.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The College Theology Society 1987

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References

1 Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Smyrnaeos 8.2. See Lightfoot, J. B., ed., The Apostolic Fathers (New York: Macmillan, 1891), p. 158.Google Scholar Ignatius tied his conception of catholicity to his notion of a monarchical episcopacy and an emerging model of Roman ecclesiastical authority (Ad Romanos, intro.; see ibid., pp. 75–76) so that his profoundly enthusiastic endorsement of Christianity was part of his argument for a strong hierarchy.

2 Understanding the Catholic Faith with supplementary material and explanatory charts and illustrations prepared by Rev. O'Brien, John A. (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 1955), p. 118.Google Scholar

3 “The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church” II.10 in Abbott, Walter M., ed., The Documents of Vatican II (New York: Guild Press, 1966), p. 26.Google Scholar

4 Boff, Leonardo, Church: Charism and Power (New York: Crossroad, 1985), p. 98.Google Scholar

5 “Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church” 1.4 in Abbott, p. 588.

6 Sharing the Light of Faith: National Catechetical Directory for Catholics in the United States (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1979), p. 40.Google Scholar

7 Boniface VIII, “Unam Sanctam” written in November, 1302. Excerpts can be found in Fremantle, Anne, ed., The Papal Encyclicals (New York: New American Library, 1956), pp. 7274.Google Scholar

8 Sermon 240.2.4 as cited by council fathers at Trent and found in McHugh, John A. and Callan, Charles J., eds., Catechism of the Council of Trent for Parish Priests (New York: Joseph F. Wagner, 1923), p. 106.Google Scholar

9 The church is universal, the council fathers say, because all who desire salvation must cling to and embrace her. See Catechism of the Council of Trent, p. 106.

10 Bernal Diaz, last survivor of the conquerers of Mexico, played a role in the overthrow of the Aztec empire as a soldier in the army led by Cortés. See The Conquest of New Spain (London: Folio Society, 1974), p. 43.Google Scholar

11 See Witvliet, Theo, A Place in the Sun: An Introduction to Liberation Theology in the Third World (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1984), pp. 123.Google Scholar For the story of a modern exploitation of the natives by the clergy see Bonilla, Victor Daniel, Servants of God or Masters of Men?: The Story of a Capuchin Mission in Amazonia (London: Penguin, 1972).Google Scholar Bonilla tells the story of the Church in Colombia at the beginning of this century in its crusade to “civilize” the Indians. In the name of God and with the full support of the Colombian state, Capuchin missionaries used tactics of deception and intimidation to obtain valuable land, destroy the Indians' highly developed civilization and turn them into landless peasants who would form a cheap supply of labor.

12 For an account of the so-called “Chinese Rites Case” and a selected bibliography on the subject, see my The Chinese Rites Case and Mission Theory” in Worldmission 26 (1975), 1823.Google Scholar

13 For more on missionary adaptation see Neill, Stephen, A History of Christian Missions (London: Penguin, 1964);Google ScholarNebreda, A., Kerygma in Crisis? (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1966);Google Scholar and Hoffman, Ronan, “The Development of Mission Theology in the Twentieth Century,” Theological Studies 23 (1963), 419–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

14 Alexander, Calvert, “Introduction” to the Vatican II Decree on the Missions in Abbott, pp. 580–83;Google Scholar at 583.

15 “Decree on Missionary Activity in the Church” II.11 in Abbott, p. 598.

16 Witvliet, , A Place in the Sun, p. 39.Google Scholar

17 Boff, , Church, p. 107.Google Scholar

18 “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World,” Preface 4 in Abbott, p. 201.

19 Morton, Nelle, The Journey is Home (Boston: Beacon, 1985), p. 223.Google Scholar

20 “Hearing into speech” is a concept closely aligned with the need women have had to “tell their stories.” See ibid., p. 209.

21 Breuer, Josef, “Case I: Fraulein Anna O.” in Breuer, Josef and Freud, Sigmund, Studies on Hysteria (New York: Basic Books, 1957), pp. 2147.Google Scholar Breuer clearly states that this talking cure “was not an invention of mine … it took me completely by surprise” (p. 46). He later speculates that hysteria is often found in “people of a very lively disposition, to whom monotonous, simple and uninteresting occupation is a torture” (p. 233), an observation important to feminist interpreters. It may be historically arguable that Anna O. “instructed” Freud about listening, but the story as found in Breuer is rich in symbolism and contains the elements of good listening I want to highlight here.

22 In the context of the War of 1812, Stephen Decatur (1779-1820), a stubborn patriot and naval officer, made the following toast: “Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong!” This sentiment is reported to have been echoed by Cardinal Spellman during the Vietnam War, giving further evidence that American Catholics were unquestionably patriotic.

23 Witvliet, p. 37.

24 Arroyo, Antonio, Prophets Denied Honor: An Anthology on the Hispanic Church in the United States (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1980).Google Scholar

25 Besides the document itself, see Braxton, Edward K., “Authentically black, truly Catholic,” Commonweal 112 (8 February 1985), 7377.Google Scholar See also Wilmore, Gayraud S. and Cone, James H., eds., Black Theology: A Documentary History, 1966-1979 (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1979).Google Scholar

26 Quoted in Witvliet, p. 27.

27 Task Force Report on the Role of Women in the Church in Southeast Wisconsin (Milwaukee: Catholic Herald Supplement, 9 December 1982).Google Scholar Weakland prefaced the report saying that listening was the goal of the task force and that the process begun by the task force was essentially one of reconciliation.

28 Balasuriya, Tissa, Planetary Theology (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1984), pp. 210.Google Scholar Balasuriya's earlier work. The Eucharist and Human Liberation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1979)Google Scholar linked the Eucharist to problems of hunger in the Third World, especially in Asia. In that book he indicted the imperialistic eucharistic theology of the First World and called for a politicization of the Eucharist.

29 Process thought is indebted to the work of Whitehead, Alfred North, especially to Process and Reality: An Essay in Cosmology (New York: Social Sciences Book Store, 1941).Google Scholar His work is also accessible through his students: Pittenger, W. Norman, Process Thought and Christian Faith (New York: Macmillan, 1968);Google Scholar and Williams, Daniel Day, The Spirit and the Forms of Love (New York: Harper and Row, 1968).Google Scholar For a recent introductory work see Suchocki, Majorie, God, Christ, Church: A Practical Guide to Process Theology (New York: Crossroad, 1982).Google Scholar

30 Karl Rahner (1904-84), author of more than four thousand articles and books, may be the most universally influential theologian since Aquinas. For an excellent introduction to his work, see O'Donovan, Leo J., ed., A World of Grace: An Introduction to the Themes and Foundations of Karl Rahner (New York: Seabury, 1980).Google Scholar

31 Morton, , The Journey is Home, p. 120.Google Scholar

32 Balasuriya, , Planetary Theology, p. 198.Google Scholar

33 The Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965), p. 13.Google Scholar