That’s the problem. The Church is One. There are no sides. That unity is expressed and manifested especially by the Roman Pontiff, under whom all things are subject. The Pope has the authority to determine all matters touching on Faith, morals and discipline. He is the father of all Christian people, both directly and immediately. If Canon Law is so trivial as to not be considered a matter of faith, morality or discipline, then I am left wondering why people quote from it on questions of faith, practice or belief.
Now it may be possible that matters such as law are of no concern, as the validity of the Sacraments is not a concern; nonetheless, all such matters are, ultimately and necessarily, subject to the Roman Pontiff for approbation.
Furthermore, the Roman Church is “the Mother… of all the Churches”; therefore, She cannot possibly be any Church’s “Sister”, lest She married Her own son, and so the sister Church’s brother, at which point I think Canon Law might suddenly become rather material. The point, however, is that mothers are greater than their daughters; whereas, sisters are basically equals.
The issue is that Canon Law is not a summary of Christian doctrine. Canon law must comply with Christian doctrine. The pope decides to whom he applies Canon Law, when and to what extent.
If you observe the opening sentence of the two codes of Canon Law, they are very specific. The one code says
Can. 1 The canons of this Code regard only the Latin Church.
This code does not even apply to the Eastern Catholics, much less to anyone outside of the Catholic Church. This was deliberately done this way by Pope Paul VI, because he felt that no law can be applied to someone who is outside of your jurisdiction. To do so was unreasonable. Later, Pope John Paul would say that to apply these laws to Protestants and Orthodox Christians was not only unreasonable, but unnecessary. They have never pledged allegiance to the Latin Church. They don’t even apply to the Eastern Catholics, because they have never pledged allegiance to the Latin Church. Their allegiance is to the pope.
In the Code of Canon Law for the Eastern Churches, the first code says
Canon 1 - The canons of this Code affect all and solely the Eastern Catholic Churches, unless, with regard to relations with the Latin Church, it is expressly stated otherwise.
In this code, we Roman Catholics are left out, unless we’re mentioned by name.
In both codes, the Orthodox are deliberately left out so that they can be free to follow their own code of law.
We are sister Churches. There are 23 Catholic Churches, don’t forget that. If you tell the Chaldeans that the Roman Catholic Church is their mother, they’ll stone you.
Holy Mother Church refers to the entire Church, not to the Latin Church.
Sadly, what we have is a Church that is divided or divorced. This has to be resolved not by posturing, but by dialogue. Both sides have been posturing for 1,000 years and they have accomplished nothing said Pope Paul VI.
The term two sides came from Pope Paul VI. Pope Benedict, I believe, coined the term two lungs of one Church. One lung is not greater than the other or more necessary than the other.
As Pope John Paul said, the office of Peter is to serve the entire Church, not to place the Latin Church over all the others. That’s the imagery that Catholics and Orthodox have to get away from. We’ve held that imagery for too long. We have held that someone has to be on top and someone has to be subordinate.
Our leaders are saying that we’re sister Churches and the Office of Peter is to serve the unity of all the Churches. If anyone is going to subordinate to anyone is every to the Office of Peter, not the Orthodox to the Catholics. Just as the Melkites remained Melkites when they signed the agreement for reunification, so it will be with the Orthodox Churches. Each one will come under the authority of Peter, but not under the Latin Catholics.
Latin Catholics were erroneously taught that we were the top dog as if the pope belonged to us alone. Look at how ignorant we are about Eastern Catholicism. Look at how upset they get when we try to Latinize them. The more we push the Orthodox to become Roman Catholic, the more harm we do to the Catholic Church.
The Eastern Catholics are watching very closely. They take great offense when we say anything that sounds like we’re being dismissive of Eastern Christianity. If we push the Orthodox to become Roman Catholics, what is the message that we’re sending to the Eastern Catholics? Afterall, what’s the difference between a Greek Catholic and a Greek Orthodox?
Do you see the problem? It’s fascinating stuff.
Fraternally,
Br. Jr, OSF
