Folia Theologica 1. (1990)

Péter Erdő: The Theological foundations of Canon Law according to the works of John Henry Newman

124

P. ERDŐ

But But the role of the pontificate as a theologically necessary, juridical structure is not isolated. Even the office of bishops is of divine law, as also the very existence of hierarchical order itself.47 However, the theological indispensability of these elements seems to demand some historical clarification, given the development of these institutions, as well as development in the exercise of the power of the Church. The solution, proposed in a classical form in the Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, is that first of all, the episcopate manifested itself more and more clearly, and that the rules of the functioning of these institutions were gradually crystallized following various challenges. This historical evolution is illuminated by the analogy of juridical relations, which are often made clear only through a discussion or a juridical process, or like the inheritances and legacies in a family, of which the interested parties only become aware when a father or husband dies.48

2. "Communio"

Among the elements juridically relevant to the ecclesiology of our age, "communion" plays an eminent part. This notion is used by Newman in a very central position, especially in the years preceding the promulgation of the dogma of infallibility. Communion means for him both the bond with which the individual is united to the Church or to the See of St. Peter, and the Church itself as an organic unity that is more than a school or an academy.49 Although he recognizes the necessity of communion with the Roman See in order that one might be a Catholic, he refutes the position of those who maintain that Communion with the See of Peter is a "characteristic note of the Church".50

The fact that the Church is a communion, has, according to Newman, special consequences regarding her offices and her members. The words of St. Augustine, "securus iudicat orbis terrarum", mean for him first of

47. Cf. e.g. Dev 149; SVO 191.

48. Dev 150; cf. LD XX 306.

49. Cf. LD CC, 307-308; XXIV, 253; STERN, J., La Communion universelle come lieu théologique de Vatican I selon J. H. Newman, in Nouvelle Revue théologique 109 (1977) 183.

50. LD XX, 307.