Folia Theologica 22. (2011)
Juhász Gábor Tamás: Equality and Inequality of "Christ's Faithful" from a Perspective of Philosophy and Theology of Canon Law
EQUALITY AND INEQUALITY ... 165 Council's teaching into canonical terms, therefore can. 204 §§ 1 and 2 must be interpreted with the conciliar picture of the Church in the background. We have paid long time for as precise as possible examination of the concepts "people of God" and "Christ's faithful", and based on this detailed analysis explain a more exact meaning of their relation; further we strive to define the equality and inequality that exists between "Christ's faithful", as well as their cause; we examine the relation of the whole Catholic Church to other Christian communities, as well as, closely related to this, what it means that the society established by Christ subsists in (subsistit in) the Catholic Church.7 Inside the Church besides the theme of equality is also that of inequality - which is specific to the topic of the ministerial priesthood - has an actual importance, because the identity of Catholic priests got into a crisis of identity.8 The reason for this is on one side the harmful influence of a protestant model, and on the other side the influence of secularization.9 But it made also great damage that a part of modern theologians view the ordained priest not as the representative of Christ, but rather that of the Church, and consequently deny the specific meaning of the ministerial priesthood.10 11 In accordance with our purpose first we examine what is the extension of the concepts "people of God" and "Christ's faithful" in the CIC, with special concern to Book II.” In this consideration we see that the people of God consists of both clerics and non-clerics, and the term "Christ's faithful" consequently applies to all baptised person. After having analysed the sources of can. 204 § 1 we can state that the concepts "people of God" and "Christ's faithful" are synonyms.12 7 Cf. Bonnet, P. A. - Ghirlanda, G-F., De christifidelibus. De eorum iuribus, de laids, de consociationibus, Romae 1983. Willebrands, J., La signification de «subsistit in» dans l’ecclésiologie de communion, in La documentation catholique 85 (1988) 35-41. Feliciani, G., Obblighi e diritti di tutti ifedeli, in II fedele cris- tiano la condizione giuridica dei batezzati, Bologna 1989. 55-101. 8 Cf. e.g., McGovern, TJ., Priestly Identity: A Study in the Theology of Priesthood, Dublin 2002. 9 Ziegenaus, A., Identidad del sacerdocio ministerial, in La formáción de los sacerdotes en las circumstandas actuales, Pamplona 1990. 81-89. 10 IOHANNES Paulus II, Allocutio (1 oct. 1979): AAS 71 (1979) 1120-1122. 11 Erdő, P., Egyházjog (Szent István Kézikönyvek 7), Budapest 2005.4 204. 12 Errázuriz, M. C. J., Justice in the Church. A Fundamental Theory of Canon Law (Collection Gratianus Series, Section Handbooks), Montreal 2009. 182-187.
