Jesuit superior says pope is not the ‘chief’ of the Church- What did he mean?

Vatican City, Oct 16, 2018 / 10:00 am

Fr. Arturo Sosa Abascal, superior general of the Jesuits, said in an interview Monday that Pope Francis consciously calls himself the Bishop of Rome, instead of using grander titles.

"Very frequently we forget that the pope is not the chief of the Church, he's the Bishop of Rome," Fr. Sosa told EWTN in an interview Oct. 15.

 

"As the bishop of Rome, he has another service to do to the Church, that is, to try to [bring about] the communion of the whole Church."

 

By convoking the youth synod, taking place in Rome Oct. 3-28, Francis is exercising his role as pope by bringing together a group "of his own peers" to make a "contribution to the communion of the whole Church," Sosa said.

 

"Fr. Sosa is certainly correct to say that the pope is the Bishop of Rome, but it would be a mistake to infer from that title that the Holy Father is merely 'first among equals,'" Chad Pecknold, Associate Professor of Theology at the Catholic University of America, told CNA.

 

Pecknold told CNA that popes often and correctly speak of their "brother bishops," but that the Petrine office is unique.

 

The pope "holds an office of supreme authority over every bishop in communion with him, and of course over the faithful too. It isn't a charism of dominance but of paternal care - the popes traditionally use the title 'servant of the servants of God.'"

 

Sosa said that because Pope Francis feels each bishop is responsible for his local church, this synod, in which Church leaders come together to discuss and decide church affairs, is an expression of dialogue and communion between all of the bishops.

 

Pecknold agreed that the world's bishops are each truly invested with the authority to govern, teach, and minister to their own dioceses. But a bishop's ministry must always be done in union with the pope, who, he said, "is the visible center of communion for the universal Church."

 

"The worldwide college of bishops exists in what the Church calls 'hierarchical communion' with each other and with the head, the pope. When the we talk about authority of the college of bishops to teach or lead, the Church is always careful to emphasize that this is only possible in union with the pope, who is the head of the college," Pecknold explained.

 

In his interview, Sosa also explained that the collaborative work of the synod is a work of discernment, something he said was very important to Pope Francis.  The Jesuit superior said that although the concept of discernment is a key feature of Jesuit spirituality, the act of listening to the Spirit has been a part of the Church's for a long time.

 

"Discernment is the way that this communion [of the universal Church] can be made and how the Church will find the structure to reflect a Church that is open to that synodality," Sosa continued.

 

"Because the Church is supposed to be governed not by men but by the Spirit. So [the Synod of Bishops] is not a kind of parliament, where you have to have a majority or minority, but we all together try to listen to the Spirit. And that's what discernment teaches us to do."

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In comments to journalists Oct. 16, Cardinal Louis Sako I, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon, echoed this point: "The synod is not a political parliament, is a synod of fathers, teachers," he said. "What can we give, what can we offer the young, the faithful?"  

 

The Synod of Bishops, which was established by Pope St. Paul VI following Vatican Council II, was created to continue the collaborative effects of the council fathers.

 

The Code of Canon Law defines it as a work of "collaborative assistance" to the pope's ministry, and stresses that it exists to "foster unity" among the bishops, including with the pope. It also states that the synod is itself a creation of papal authority, deriving its legitimacy not from the bishops attending but from the pope who called them to the session. Whether a synod session's conclusions are deliberative or consultative is explicitly up to the pope, who decides how much of his own authority to delegate to it.

 

In this sense, Pecknold told CNA, it functions nothing like a parliament.

 

"Parliaments are political, legislative bodies," he said.

 

"The Synod of Bishops exists to foster unity and to give the pope the benefit of their counsel. In that sense, their job isn't to pass this resolution or block that one - it is to work together to advise the pope as best they can, and that is a work of communion and service, not confrontation."