Gannett News Service
April 10, 2008 05:15 pm
—
When Pope Benedict XVI is greeted in Washington, D.C., and New York next week as not only the leader of the Roman Catholic Church but also a living embodiment of Christian history, many Christian leaders from non-Catholic traditions will be OK with it.
This pope, Protestant and Orthodox Christian leaders from the New York area say, is a straight-talking theologian they can respect.
There is no glossing over centuries-old differences among Christian traditions, and Benedict has drawn heat for restating that the Catholic Church is the one true church.
But Christian observers on the other side of the Roman divide appreciate Benedict’s clarity of mind, his generosity of spirit in reaching out to others and his honesty and directness in addressing who believes what and why.
“He is a brilliant theologian on a mission to clarify the doctrine of his church and the nature of his church,” said Bishop Jeremiah Park, leader of the New York Conference of the United Methodist Church. “He is also crossing lines, reaching out and trying to expand the scope and connection of God’s people around the world. The pope is helping us understand the global nature of the church and what it means.”
Park is one of 15 Christian leaders who will officially greet the pope at a much-anticipated ecumenical prayer service April 18 at St. Joseph’s Church in Manhattan. Benedict will address about 250 Protestant and Orthodox leaders before the diverse congregation prays the Lord’s Prayer.
Benedict is well-known for having signed off in his pre-pope days on the 2000 Vatican document “The Lord Jesus,” which restated that “there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church.”
And last year, the Vatican reasserted that certain Christian traditions “cannot be called ’churches’ in the proper sense” because they do not trace their bishops back to the apostles (or have bishops at all).
Christian leaders from other traditions, though, see Benedict as a serious-minded scholar with an ecumenical track record dating back decades. They say he understands other traditions and treats them with respect, even if he sticks to classic Catholic interpretations of their differences.
As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in his days as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, part of his job was to be a keen observer of ecumenical developments.
“John Paul was not involved with doctrinal similarities and differences,” said Bishop David Olson, interim bishop of the New York region for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, who will attend the ecumenical service. “It is quite different to have a scholar who has been seriously engaged with Lutherans. You have to respect that he has taken a stand as a teaching pope.
”He believes that holding to true doctrine, as defined by the history and tradition of his church, is the right thing to do and the key to the salvation of Europe, which is a very tall order.“
One of Benedict’s first priorities was to jump-start talks with Orthodox Christians, to whom the Catholic Church is closest in terms of liturgy and belief. The two traditions separated in 1054, largely over the role of the pope.
Benedict reignited an international dialogue that had been derailed for several years.
”This pope has been very open to putting contentious issues on the table for discussion, including papal primacy,“ said the Very Rev. Chad Hatfield, chancellor of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary in Crestwood, N.Y., which Ratzinger visited in 1988. ”Eastern Christians appreciate his theological mind.“
Hatfield said Orthodox Christians are grateful that Pope Benedict, when in Turkey in 2006, spotlighted the persecution of Orthodox Christians by Muslim authorities.
Hatfield will attend the ecumenical service with others from the seminary, including Paul Meyendorff, professor of liturgical theology and a member of two, high-profile international Orthodox-Catholic dialogues.
”He has made unity with the Orthodox a priority,“ Meyendorff said. ”That doesn’t mean we agree on everything. But I think the Orthodox respect this pope.“
There is a sense in the wider Christian world that Benedict is trying to tackle a great challenge of the age: how to grow closer to other religious traditions while maintaining one’s own religious identity.
While others may not agree with where the pope draws his lines, they respect that he’s trying to do so openly.
”Many Christian communities are struggling with how we can maintain our identity and live in a pluralistic, multifaith, wonderfully rich religious culture,“ said Maxine Clarke Beach, dean of the historically Methodist School of Theology at Drew University in Madison, N.J.
”When Christian bodies try to decide who they are, that often comes at the cost of defining yourself against somebody else. This pope is very clear, and the world is taking him seriously.“
Putting aside definitions, the symbolism of hundreds of Christians from dozens of traditions praying together with the pope will be a powerful witness, said the Rev. Adolphus C. Lacey, pastor of Mount Olivet Baptist Church in Peekskill, N.Y.
”It’s an honor to participate in a service like this,“ he said. ”The pope is able to stand up for justice and peace - and I think he has. It’s early, but I think he has. We can reach out and connect.“
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Photos
Pope Benedict XVI is set to visit the United States next week. Associated Press