By UCAN

Protestant leaders in India assert that the recently issued Vatican document identifying the Catholic Church as the Church Christ established is a threat to ecumenism.

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on July 10 released Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church to clarify certain Vatican Council II teachings.

Pope Benedict XVI approved the document that Cardinal William Levada, CDF's prefect, signed. The text attempts to clarify "the authentic meaning of some ecclesiological expressions" the magisterium uses that could be misunderstood.


According to the text, Protestant denominations do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of orders, "and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the Church."

Reverend Enos Das Pradhan, general secretary of the Church of North India (CNI), expressed dismay over the Vatican position. He told UCA News on July 26 that the document has "shattered" years of efforts to promote ecumenism. "The Catholic Church cannot ascertain supremacy over the other Churches," he said.

He added: "We have to realize the whole Church, with all its denominations, is equal in faith. We all believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."

He also said he wants the various Churches to work together for "greater ecumenism." The concept of a unified Church is "never possible," he asserted.

Reverend Abraham Stephen similarly expressed unhappiness about the document. "Christ has not established any Church and he has been always against institutional structures," the professor of Religion at Bangalore's United Theological College (UTC) told UCA News.

Bangalore, 2,060 kilometers south of New Delhi, is the capital of Karnataka state. The city is also known as "the Vatican of the East" because it houses several Christian Churches and their various offices.

Reverend Stephen explained that "Church" refers to a community of faith in Christ, but the CDF text uses the term to refer to a hierarchical institution.

"Jesus was always against hierarchy and power, and therefore, there is no meaning to apostolic succession," he said. Such documents, Reverend Stephen pointed out, create "confusion among Churches" about the relevance of ecumenism that had reached "great heights under the previous pope."

In India, he noted, Hindu fundamentalist groups have already taken advantage of divisions among Christian denominations, and this "gap" widens further with the Catholic Church's stand.

Reverend O. V. Jathanna, the principal of UTC, said the Vatican document is disappointing and discouraging. "We expected the Catholic Church to go forward, a trend the previous pope initiated, but unfortunately it is going backward to pre-Vatican II," lamented the Church of South India theologian.

He said Churches should accept "the supremacy and fatherhood of Jesus," not of any Church or establishment, and "when we are facing lots of external threats, there is a great necessity for ecumenism and inter-Church relations."

Reverend Jathanna further remarked that the pope has again shown he is "ultra-conservative" and "non-compromising" in his attitudes.

Reverend M.J. Joseph, former director of the Bangalore-based Ecumenical Christian Centre, told UCA News the Vatican document disappointed him, too.

"It is like giving a direct blow to the ecumenical movements in India, which will have negative impacts," said the member of Mar Thoma Church, a reformed Orthodox group. Ecumenism is "not inviting the other to accept one's supremacy but accepting each other as members in the union of Christian faith," he said.

S. Daud of the Evangelical Church of India says he wants the Vatican to promote Christianity instead of dividing Churches and causing confusion among ordinary Indians who know little about Christian denominations.

Daud also told UCA News the document will give the impression that a caste system exists within Christianity. Based in Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh state, 745 kilometers south of New Delhi, he is president of the Madhya Pradesh chapter of the All India Christian Council.


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