Folia Theologica 22. (2011)

Juhász Gábor Tamás: Equality and Inequality of "Christ's Faithful" from a Perspective of Philosophy and Theology of Canon Law

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Gábor Tamás JUHÁSZ

tematic theology spoke very rarely, and mainly in the first centuries, about the equality of the members of the Church.2

I. As a main topic put into the forefront, equality among the members of the Church was dogmatically treated for first time in the Second Vatican Council, in its dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium, and in its footsteps in canonical language in the Code of Canon Law (1983).3 Therefore, we have to consider the basic teaching purpose of the Second Vatican Council and which kind of problems could arise by the various interpretations of its teaching.4 In relation to this we point out that the Second Vaticanum spoke of the Church as "people of God", and intentionally viewed the Church rather from a sociological perspective.5 Thus it gave a greater emphasis to understand the general priesthood that originates from baptism and therefore to the potentials of the active operation of the laity, and less emphasis was given to the ministerial priesthood and its activity. However, because the Council was declared by its two popes to have a pastoral and not a dogmatic perspective, it did intentionally not want to pronounce any dogma - although it did one about the collegiality of the bishops -, a great many of the wording of its statements are ambiguous and to be explained carefully, according to the analogia fidei, in the light of the previous Councils.6 And because the CIC strives to convert the

2 Condorelli, M., II fedeli nel nuovo "Codex iuris canonirí", in Le nouveau Code de droit canonique (Actes du Ve Congrès International de Droit Canonique, 19- 25 août 1984), Ottawa 1986.1. 319-344. Cf. About the historical development Szuromi, Sz. A., Authority and sacramentality in the Catholic Church (A Canonical-Theological Schema), in Arrieta, J. I. (a cura di), Jus divinum (XIII Congresso Internazionale di Diritto Canonico, 17-21 settembre 2008, Venezia), Venezia 2010.1143-1163.

3 Cf. Schillebeeckx, E., The Real Achievement of Vatican II, New York 1967. 84-85. Muggeridge, A.R., The Desolate City: Revolution in the Catholic Church, New York 1990. 62-63.

4 More detailed explanation by Szuromi, Sz. A., Karl Rahner szerepe a II. Vatikáni Zsinat egyházról szóló dogmatikus konstitúciójának megszületésében, in In memoriam Karl Rahner (Sapientia füzetek 6), Budapest 2006. 267-276.

5 O'Brian, O., The Theology of Lay Ministry: "Developments" since Vatican II, in Irish Theological Quartery 72 (2007) 88-95.

6 Schütz, A., Dogmatika: A katholikus hitigazságok rendszere, I. Budapest 1937. 237; cf. Denzinger, H. - Schönmetzer, A. (ed.), Enchiridion symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum, Barcinone 1973.35 (Hereafter DS) 3016.