THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA. Communication, Communion and Conflict in the Theologies of Gregory Baum and Patrick Granfield A DISSERTATION

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1 THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Communication, Communion and Conflict in the Theologies of Gregory Baum and Patrick Granfield A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Copyright All Rights Reserved By Marc Jude DelMonico Washington, D.C. 2015

2 Communication, Communion and Conflict in the Theologies of Gregory Baum and Patrick Granfield Marc Jude DelMonico, Ph.D. Director: Paul McPartlan, D. Phil. Communion, communication, and conflict are interrelated realities of great importance for the life and mission of the church. These realities themselves and the relationships between them are in need of theological refinement and assessment, because conflict necessarily affects the church s ability to communicate the message of salvation, and to experience communion. Within a North American and Roman Catholic context, Canadian theologian Gregory Baum (b.1923) and U.S. theologian Patrick Granfield ( ) present ways of perceiving the relationships between these three realities. Through an analysis of the salient dimensions of their respective theologies, this dissertation explores their respective understandings of the church, and identifies ways in which their approaches complement each other, with particular attention paid to the themes of communion, communication and conflict. Baum reflected on these three realities with respect to the church s life and mission to the world, articulating an ecclesial spirituality. Granfield did so primarily with respect to the church s institutional life. Considering their works together offers a means to deepen the church s experience of the mystery of communion via a renewed approach to its communication of the divine promise, while acknowledging conflict as a force which need not be destructive, but which can be harnessed for creative growth. The works of both men show that the implementation of an ecclesiology of communion in the church today requires an awareness that communion is more than simply a theological notion of union with God, that communication in the church is more than speech alone, and that conflict in the church need not be divisive or destructive. Rather, communion in the church must

3 always be concretely expressed in order to be experienced, communication is the sharing of the whole person, and conflict can be attended to in a way which strengthens communion and does not undermine it. By their attention to these three realities in the church, both Baum and Granfield have provided important reflections, not only on how the church lives and functions, but on how it can remain faithful to its divine calling and mission in a continually challenging and complex era.

4 This dissertation by Marc Jude DelMonico fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in Historic and Systematic Theology approved by Paul McPartlan, D. Phil., as Director, and by William Dinges, Ph.D. and Christopher Ruddy, Ph.D. as Readers. Paul McPartlan, D. Phil., Director William Dinges, Ph.D., Reader Christopher Ruddy, Ph.D., Reader ii

5 To Fr. Patrick Granfield, OSB ( ) Theologian, Professor, Mentor, Friend iii

6 Contact is the true language of communication. - Pope Francis, Homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 15, 2015 Traditions, when vital, embody continuities of conflict. - Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1981), 222 iv

7 Table of Contents Acknowledgements... ix Introduction... 1 Chapter 1: Communion, Communication and Conflict in the Church... 5 Communion: The Unity of the Church and Its Implications... 5 Communication: How the Church Should Speak and Act Conflict: How the Church Should Respond to Discord Chapter 2: Biographical Sketches of Baum and Granfield Gregory Baum Patrick Granfield Chapter 3: Baum s Early Views on Dialogue and Sin in the Church Communion and Reconciliation in the Church The Meaning of Schisms Old Testament Perspectives New Testament Perspectives Conflict and Renewal of the Churches A Model of Ecclesial Dialogue Chapter 4: Baum, the Council, and the Open Church The Dialogical Structure of the Church: Lumen gentium The Dialogue of Church and World: Gaudium et spes v

8 Grace, Communion and Dialogue Communion and the Dialogical Nature of the Human Person Communion, Sin and Social Process The Listening Church Revelation and Communication: Dei verbum Dialogue for Ecclesial Unity: Unitatis redintegratio Engaging World Religions in Truth and Love: Nostra aetate The Social Nature of the Church: The Credibility of the Church Today Communion and the Open Church Creating an Ecclesial Zone of Truth Tensions and Ecclesial Credibility Chapter 5: Baum s Interdisciplinary Ecclesiology Interdisciplinary Influences Insights from Psychology: Growth of the Person and the Church Sociology of Religion and Knowledge: Marx, Weber, Mannheim Liberation Theology Baum s Critical Theology and Its Implications for His Ecclesiology The Role of Solidarity in Baum s Theology and Ecclesiology Critical Theology, Solidarity, and Emancipatory Commitment Dancing With a Wounded Leg : Critical Ecclesial Spirituality Chapter 6: Granfield s Vision of the Church vi

9 Early Interdisciplinary and Theological Influences Semiotics and Communication Historical Analysis and the Value of Democracy Theology and the Communal Search for Truth Key Aspects of Granfield s Ecclesiology The Mystery of the Church Shared Responsibility in the Church Prophecy, the Church, and the Communication of Truth The Ongoing Work of Being the Church in Granfield s Ecclesiology Chapter 7: Granfield, Cybernetics, and Shared Responsibility in the Church Cybernetics and the Church Cybernetics of the Universal Church Cybernetics of the Local Church Promoting Shared Responsibility and Ecclesial Democratization Historical Roots of Ecclesial Shared Responsibility Theological Basis for Shared Responsibility in the Church Chapter 8: Granfield s Proposals for Institutionalizing Ecclesial Shared Responsibility. 343 A Broader Understanding of the Church as Institution Communion and Institutional Ecclesial Renewal The Processes of Episcopal Collegiality The Sense of the Faithful and Reception of Church Teaching vii

10 Ecumenism and Ecclesial Authority How The Church Functions: Granfield s Empirical Ecclesiology Chapter 9: A Comparison of Baum and Granfield Complementarity in the Ecclesiologies of Baum and Granfield Evaluation of Communion, Communication and Conflict in Baum and Granfield The Value of the Works of Baum and Granfield for Ecclesiology Conclusion Appendix: Correspondence with Dr. Gregory Baum February 15, January 20-26, Bibliography Primary Sources: Gregory Baum (Chronological) Primary Sources: Patrick Granfield (Chronological) Primary Sources: Second Vatican Council (Alphabetical by Latin Names) Other Sources (Alphabetical) viii

11 Acknowledgements I wish to offer my acknowledgement and gratitude to the following people, whose support and commitment were vital to me and to the success of this project. I thank Msgr. Paul McPartlan, D. Phil., for his able direction of this dissertation, without whose guidance and editorial skill it would be far less lucid. I am grateful, also, to my first and second readers, William Dinges, Ph.D. and Christopher Ruddy, Ph.D., who, together with Msgr. McPartlan, have offered me many helpful additional points for consideration with respect to the topics discussed in this study. I convey thanks to my family and many friends who have supported me in this endeavor from start to finish, with particular thanks to Mr. Peter Elacqua and Rev. Jim Greenfield, OSFS, for their consistent encouragement. I am exceedingly grateful for the generous attention Dr. Gregory Baum offered in response to my request for an in-person interview, and his subsequent responses to particular questions which enhanced my understanding of his works and his views on the church. Finally, I recall with abiding gratitude the support and encouragement that my prior academic advisor, professor, and mentor, Fr. Patrick Granfield, OSB, offered to me as I began this work. Though he did not live to see its completion, my fervent hope is that, from his place in the glory of God s eternal love, he sees in this work an example of an honest and thorough theological scholarship which, in his words, is willing to seek truth no matter where it may be found. 1 1 See below, chapter 6, p ix

12 Introduction Communion, communication, and conflict are interrelated realities of great importance for the life and mission of the church. These realities themselves and the relationships between them are in need of theological refinement and assessment, because conflict necessarily affects the church s ability to communicate the message of salvation, and to experience communion. An effort to identify how these three factors are related in the church can be a means to a more fruitful ecclesial experience of koinonia, a more effective practice of communication both ad intra and ad extra, and a more comprehensive account of, and response to, experiences of past and ongoing ecclesial conflict. Within a North American and Roman Catholic context, Canadian theologian Gregory Baum (b.1923) and U.S. theologian Patrick Granfield ( ) present ways of perceiving the relationships between communication, communion, and conflict in the church. Individually, both of these men have made efforts to enhance communication within the communion of the church by identifying the links between these two realities and by identifying and seeking to respond to conflicts, both within the church and between the church and wider society. Additionally, considering both theologians together offers an opportunity to understand more deeply the relationships between the three realities. Baum s understanding of the church was significantly shaped by his ecumenical work, by the vision of the church and of God s communication through revelation elaborated in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, by liberation theology, as well as by a selective interdisciplinary engagement with other fields, especially sociology. He developed what he 1

13 2 called a critical theology a critical theological approach which incorporates a commitment to self-reflection and liberation from oppressive social forces. He applied this critical approach to the life of the church and to its mission in the world, namely, to make known and exemplify God s offer of koinonia to all. This mission is affected by the approaches the church uses to communicate. In turn, this communication is affected by how the church perceives and responds to conflicts. Granfield s ecclesiology was significantly influenced by cybernetics a field which seeks to identify, quantify, and explore the processes which govern the operation of systems, groups, and societies, in order to adjust and improve the latter. Cybernetics, when applied to social systems, includes communication and conflict within its methodology. It recognizes conflict, in the form of demands on the system, as an inescapable aspect of any social group, and seeks to discover techniques to manage such demands, as well as considering other inputs and activities of a social system. Granfield used cybernetic analysis to coordinate the ecclesiology of communion set forth by the Second Vatican Council with the potential development of ecclesial structures of shared responsibility. He sought to demonstrate the compatibility of this analysis with the church s charismatic foundation and its divinely established structures, and he believed that the development of structures of shared responsibility could enhance the church s communion and communication. His analysis of various issues in the Church demonstrates a desire to treat communication, communion, and conflict as closely interrelated matters. Through an analysis of the salient dimensions of the theologies of Baum and Granfield, this dissertation will explore their respective understandings of the church, and then identify

14 3 ways in which their approaches complement each other. Both men indicate in their works the interrelationship between the realities of communion, communication, and conflict in both broad and specific ways. Baum reflects on these three realities primarily from the perspective of the church s life and mission to the world, articulating an ecclesial spirituality; Granfield, primarily from the perspective of the church s inner life and structures. Considering their works together can offer a means to deepen the church s experience of the mystery of communion via a renewed approach to its communication of the divine promise, while acknowledging conflict as a force which need not be destructive, but which can be harnessed for creative growth. In examining and comparing the works of Baum and Granfield, this dissertation will consist of four steps explored through nine chapters. First, in chapters 1 and 2, there will be a brief introduction to a Catholic understanding of communion ecclesiology, the theology of communication, and the issue of conflict in the church, as a basis for investigation of the relevant works of Baum and Granfield, as well as short accounts of their lives and of the influences which shaped their respective theologies. Second, chapters 3 through 5 will offer a generally chronological account of the development of Baum s ecclesiology, including his early work in ecumenism, his activities and works related to Vatican II, and his incorporation of interdisciplinary elements into his understanding of the church. Attention will be paid specifically to those aspects of his understanding of the church which bear upon communion, communication, and conflict in the church. Third, chapters 6 and 7 will present a thematic overview of the influences upon Granfield s vision of the church, his mature ecclesiology, his study of cybernetics, and his

15 4 application of the latter to considerations of shared responsibility in the Catholic Church. Chapter 8 will examine how he integrated these interdisciplinary insights into broader considerations of the renewal of Catholic ecclesial structures to promote shared responsibility in the church. Throughout this analysis, the ways in which these insights relate to his understanding of communication, communion, and conflict in the church will be highlighted. Fourth and finally, a consideration of how the works of Baum and Granfield complement one another and encourage a more comprehensive consideration of the relationship between communication, communion, and conflict in the church will be offered in chapter 9. A slightly larger amount of space is given to the exposition of Baum s material than to Granfield s. This arrangement is due to two factors: the larger corpus of Baum s major works relative to Granfield s required more attentive analysis over a larger amount of material, and Baum s more inductive and eclectic style of writing required more space for an analysis which properly documented his ideas. Granfield s more deductive and straightforward writing style required less space to present. Overall, this dissertation makes a contribution to a more thorough understanding of the respective ecclesiologies of both Baum and Granfield through an analysis of their writings, with a specific reference to the interrelation of communion, communication, and conflict. Additionally, it is the first effort to analyze their works in reference to each other. Finally, it is hoped that the present study will contribute to a more complete analysis of the relationship between communication, communion, and conflict in the church.

16 Chapter 1: Communion, Communication and Conflict in the Church Communion, communication and conflict are terms that have very broad meanings, especially when considered with respect to the church. It is important to identify and briefly elaborate their significance, in order then to see how they relate to the views of Baum and Granfield with respect to the church. Since both men are Roman Catholic theologians, consideration of these terms will be broached from within that tradition. This chapter will thus briefly define communion, communication and conflict in relationship to the church as considered within the Catholic tradition, with attention to the aspects of these three realities upon which Baum and Granfield focused in their works. Communion: The Unity of the Church and Its Implications When contemporary Christian theologians speak of communion or communion ecclesiology, they are often referring to the church as a community of faith in which all members share a spiritual unity with one another a unity forged by their participation in the life of the Triune God. 1 Catholic theologian Dennis Doyle has remarked that For Catholics, the meaning of communion ecclesiology is connected with Vatican II. 2 It is certainly the case that the teaching of the Second Vatican Council reflects this understanding of communion in the church. The Council s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium, describes how the Father, having determined to call together in a holy Church those who should believe in Christ, 1 Cf. Dennis Doyle, Communion Ecclesiology: Vision and Versions (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2000), Ibid, 2. 5

17 6 sent the Son into the world to restore humanity and all of creation. 3 Christ accomplished this work through his saving life, death and resurrection, and, in so doing, brought redemption to all, and established the community of believers, the church. 4 The constitution also describes how the Son has sent the Holy Spirit in order that he [the Spirit] might continually sanctify the Church, and that, consequently, those who believe might have access through Christ in one Spirit to the Father. 5 It is thus that the constitution is able to declare that the universal Church is seen to be a people brought into unity from the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 6 Other documents of the Council further testify to this understanding of the church. The Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis redintegratio, for example, indicates that the unity of the Church finds its highest exemplar and source [in] the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 7 Furthermore, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et spes, identifies the fact that the experience of divine communion in the church is not meant for the church alone, but is also God s desire for all people: In his fatherly care for all of us, God desired that all men should form one family and deal with each other in a spirit of brotherhood. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus, when praying to the Father that they may be one even as we are one (Jn. 17:21-22), has opened up new horizons closed to human reason by implying that there is a 3 Lumen gentium, 2-3. (Note: All quotations and references to the texts of the Second Vatican Council are taken from Austin Flannery, O.P., gen. ed., Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, rev. ed., Vatican Collection: Volume 1 [Northport, NY: Costello, 1988].) edition, Cf. Ibid., 3. 5 Ibid Ibid. Internal quotation from St. Cyprian, De. Orat. Dom. 23: PL 4, 553, as referenced in Flannery s 7 Unitatis redintegratio, 2.

18 7 certain parallel between the union existing among the divine persons and the union of the sons of God in truth and love. 8 As a result of these teachings, communion ecclesiology has become a common and fruitful way of understanding the church in Catholic theology over the past fifty years, and it has also had a similar impact in many other Christian denominations, as well as upon ecumenical dialogue between the churches. 9 In those churches with a sacramental tradition, baptism is often seen as the primordial sacrament which initiates a person into the communion of the church. This understanding is expressed in Catholic teaching from Vatican II in Lumen gentium: Through baptism, we are formed in the likeness of Christ: For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (1 Cor. 12:13). 10 The constitution also indicates that, by baptism, the faithful are [i]ncorporated into the Church, and baptism is likened to a door by which people enter the church. 11 It also recognizes that baptism is a link which unites Catholic believers to other Christians who practice it because it unites all who experience it to Christ and to one another. 12 For other Christian views of baptism, the 1982 statement from the Faith & Order Commission of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, is illustrative: Administered in obedience to our Lord, baptism is a sign and seal of our common discipleship. Through baptism, Christians are brought into union with Christ, with each other and with the 8 Gaudium et spes, 24. Cf. also Lumen gentium 9: Established by Christ as a communion of life, love and truth, [the church] is taken up by him also as the instrument for the salvation of all; as the light of the world and the salt of the earth (cf. Mt. 5:13-16) it is sent forth into the whole world." 9 Cf. Doyle, Communion Ecclesiology, Lumen gentium, Ibid., 11, Cf. Ibid., 15.

19 8 Church of every time and place. Our common baptism, which unites us to Christ in faith, is thus a basic bond of unity. 13 Similarly, the 2006 Faith & Order statement Called to Be the One Church noted that Our common belonging to Christ through baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit enables and calls churches to walk together, even when they are in disagreement. 14 Especially in the Catholic Church, communion also has the meaning of participation in the Eucharist, and especially in the ritual action of partaking in the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ under the species of bread and wine. Within the Catholic Church, theologians who have espoused a communion ecclesiology have often drawn out the significant relationship between the Eucharist and understandings of communion in the church. 15 Communion in the church is viewed as something which God calls into being and sustains, and which results from participation in God s own life. 16 The documents of Vatican II express certain emphases which have guided subsequent Catholic ecclesiological reflections. Kasper notes that the Council texts do not refer to communion primarily with regard to questions about church structures. Rather, these texts emphasize the nature of the church itself as 13 World Council of Churches, Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, Faith and Order Paper No. 111 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1982), I, World Council of Churches, Called to Be the One Church, Faith and Order Paper No. 212 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 2006), III, See Henri de Lubac, S.J., Corpus Mysticum: The Eucharist and the Church in the Middle Ages trans. Gemma Simmonds, C.J. with Richard Price and Christopher Stephens, ed. Laurence Paul Hemming and Susan Frank Parsons (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006), 88 and J.-M.R. Tillard, Church of Churches: The Ecclesiology of Communion trans. R.C. De Peaux, O. Praem. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992), See also Walter Kasper, Theology and Church, trans. Margaret Kohl (New York: Crossroad, 1989), , and Paul McPartlan, Sacrament of Salvation: An Introduction to Eucharistic Ecclesiology (London: Continuum, 1995), Cf. Kasper, Theology and Church,

20 9 communion, 17 using biblically-based images such as mystery, sacrament, Body of Christ, and People of God, as ways to express this understanding. 18 Kasper indicates that this emphasis in the conciliar texts draws attention to the spiritual centrality of communion in the entire life of the church, the important role of the lay faithful, and the co-responsibility of all in the mission and life of the church. 19 Only secondarily does the Council consider the relationships of communion between the local churches and the universal church, and, in turn, the way in which such communion is structured. Kasper maintains that the institutional and structural elements described in the council texts, particularly in Lumen gentium, are derived from a larger, spiritual vision of communion in the church. 20 However, the Council texts do not define this communion in a fixed way. They leave many specific aspects of its meaning and application in the life of the church open to theological interpretation. 21 Thus, even fifty years after the Council, significant ecclesiological questions remain with regard to the Council s vision of communion as it applies both to the general life of the church and to its structures. While such questions are broad and can be addressed in many different ways, the ecclesiological works of Baum and Granfield represent two examples of such efforts within a North American context. Both men s views of the church are formed primarily by the Catholic communion ecclesiology described above. Baum and Granfield view the 17 Cf. Ibid., See Lumen gentium, chapters 1-2 for a presentation of these various images and concepts in relation to the church. 19 Cf. Kasper, Theology and Church, 154, Cf. Ibid., Cf. Ibid.,

21 10 communion of the church as central and, significantly, both are very concerned with the implications of this understanding both for the inner life of the church and also for its mission. Baum and Granfield consider that the experience of communion should have an impact both on persons within the church and also upon the church s witness in the world. Many of Baum s writings on the church focus on the existential and missiological implications of communion ecclesiology, while Granfield s works focus on this ecclesiology s structural and procedural aspects. Each of them, by incorporating interdisciplinary insights, seeks to understand better the existential and procedural aspects of communion in the church so as to enhance the ways in which communion is expressed through the church s life, mission, and structures. Communication: How the Church Should Speak and Act When considering the relationship of the church to communication, there are basic meanings of the latter term which must be highlighted, as well as specific theological understandings related to divine revelation which are equally relevant. The most basic definition of to communicate is to impart knowledge of; to make known, or to give to another; impart; transmit. 22 Communication is the process by which this imparting, giving, or transmitting takes place, though the term communicate may also be used as an intransitive verb without an object, which serves to emphasize the subject in the act of communicating, rather than any content being communicated. Communication may also be used as a noun, 22 Random House Unabridged Dictionary 2 nd ed. (New York: Random House, 1993), s.v. communicate, communication.

22 11 referencing some set of facts presented to others, usually through oral or written means. Presumed in these definitions is the relational nature of communication; there must be someone else, either real or presumed, to whom one is imparting, giving, or transmitting information, or with whom one is communicating. Without some other being who is the recipient of the communication, there can be, by definition, no communicative act, whether verbal or otherwise. An additional supposition in the above definitions is the idea that through expressing oneself in a communicative act, and in the act of receiving the information imparted through it, the communicator and the one being addressed have a capacity to understand one another. When considering communication as a theological term, this basic definition is expanded. In many Christian traditions, including Roman Catholicism, communication is seen as an activity, not only of human beings, but of God as well; God can be, and is, the initiator of communication with humanity, and part of the human response to God s communication is to convey that experience to others, that is, to communicate with other people about this divine activity. A succinct summary of this view can be found in the various usages of the verb to hand on or to pass on in the New Testament which reference some communication being received from God and handed on to others, e.g. For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you (1 Cor 11:23). 23 Additionally, the author of the first letter of John speaks of declaring and sharing with others what we have heard seen with our eyes touched with our hands, concerning the word of life so that you also may have fellowship with us (1 John 1:1-3). 23 See also Luke 1:1-2 and 1 Cor. 15:3 for additional examples of this usage.

23 12 In Catholic theology, God s communication is understood as occurring in both the created order and in history. This self-expression of God is divine revelation, that is, the acts by which God communicates to people the possibility of sharing in the loving communion of the Trinity in the present life, and, thereby, the possibility of salvation and eternal life. The Catholic understanding of revelation and of God s communication is best expressed in Vatican II s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei verbum. The constitution draws upon the Johannine image of Christ as the Word made Flesh (cf. John 1:14) by whom believers have access to the Father, in the Holy Spirit, thereby becoming sharers in the divine nature. The invisible God from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends... and moves among them in order to invite and receive them into his company. 24 Salvation for all is achieved by Christ, who, having become human, speaks the words of God and accomplishes the saving work which the Father gave him to do. 25 The constitution continues: As a result, he himself to see whom is to see the Father (cf. Jn. 14:9) completed and perfected Revelation by the total fact of his presence and self-manifestation. 26 God s self-communication, has thus, in Catholic theology, often been regarded as synonymous with what has traditionally been called the experience of grace. 27 In this context, 24 Dei verbum, Ibid., Ibid. 27 In particular, the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner, in Foundations of Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Idea of Christianity trans. William V. Dych (New York: Crossroad, 1978), 130, reflected on the connection between God s loving self-communication to us and divine grace: We can describe the transcendental experience of God s self-communication in grace, or, to put it differently, the dynamism and the finalization of the spirit as knowledge and love towards the immediacy of God, which dynamism is of such a kind that, because of God s selfcommunication, the goal itself is also the very power of the movement (we usually call this movement grace)

24 13 grace is not understood as something given to people by God, but as God s own self-gift, communicated to people in love so that they might respond in love and, thereby, experience salvation. Thus grace is not a human achievement but, rather, the unmerited gift of God himself, who acted first in communicating with us and who motivates the human response to his own self-gift. 28 It can be said, then, that the self-communication of God is much more than the imparting, giving, or transmitting of information about God to people. It is a communication that involves God himself sharing the fullness of divine life with others. In Catholic teaching, it is acknowledged that God s full sharing of life with humanity, that is to say, his definitive selfcommunication, has taken place in the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Further, God determined to call together in a holy Church those who should believe in Christ, 29 indicating that those who have experienced grace through belief in Christ are not, and indeed, cannot be, spiritually isolated individuals. Experience of God s self-communication, while undoubtedly being profoundly personal, is a participation in God s self-communication to the whole church, the members of which are united in the same saving grace. Additionally, Catholic teaching notes that those Christians who are not Catholic but who have accepted God s self-communication through Christ are joined to the church in various ways. 30 It can thus be said that the graced experience of God s self-communication unites persons in the communion of the [and] in grace the spirit moves within its goal (because of God s self-communication) towards its goal (the beatific vision). 28 Again, 1 John 1:1-2 indicates that it is God who communicated to humans first. 29 Lumen gentium, Cf. Lumen gentium,

25 14 church. Such a teaching demonstrates how the theological understandings of communion and communication are inexorably linked in Catholic ecclesiology. It is further the case that God also communicates in and through the church. God established the church as a spiritual community united in Christ. By its very nature, then, the church is a witness to the truth of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ to the world. Dei verbum notes that the church communicates the reality of salvation in fulfillment of Christ s command to preach the Gospel, which the first apostles handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, based on the direct teaching and example of Christ which they received and witnessed, or by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. 31 The church has continued this handing on of what the apostles received. Sacred Tradition is the transmission of everything that serves to make the People of God live their lives in holiness and increase their faith. 32 Communication in the church, then, is not simply a means of conveying information about God. Rather, it is participation in the communion of love within God s own divine life. As Fr. Granfield himself noted, The Church is a worldwide communications network seeking to bring the human family into union with God. Communication is an essential function of the church, because it sustains Christians in their pilgrim journey toward the full realization of the 31 Dei verbum, Ibid., 8.

26 15 Kingdom of God. 33 Communication can thus be seen as both an internal and an external activity of the church. It is an internal activity because Christians are sustained by hearing the Word of God regularly in the liturgy, and responding to it, and by speaking with one another about God s saving grace. It is also an external activity because this deepening internal awareness of the communication of God in the church strengthens the church for its mission to guide the human family toward its ultimate communion in God. Such an understanding of the church necessarily raises specific questions about how the church itself responds to the self-communication of God and, in its turn, communicates that lived reality to the wider society. It also raises questions about the way in which the church s participation in divine communion influences those efforts. Understanding the relationship between communication and communion in the church is of crucial importance in the respective ecclesiologies of both Baum and Granfield. Each in his own way presents communication as something which must be considered as essential to the church s own life, and to its mission in the world. Both men recognize that attention to processes of communication both within the church and between the church and the world is vital. As will be seen in the presentation of their ecclesiologies, they each recognize that although God s revelation is complete and definitive, its interpretation and application in the life of the church is an ongoing task, and one which can benefit from closer attention to the process of communication, especially, though not exclusively, among believers, among different churches and denominations within Christianity, and between the church and the world. For both men, 33 Patrick Granfield, The Theology of the Church and Communication, in The Church and Communication: Communication, Culture & Theology ed. Patrick Granfield (Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1994), 4.

27 16 open and attentive communication is essential for the discovery of truth, and failure to engage in fruitful communication can be disruptive and detrimental to the life of the church. While Baum addresses communication mostly as a vital existential need of the person and of the church in the process of discovering truth, and Granfield addresses it via its function in systems and structures, both men identify specific ways in which communication is essential for the church s own growth in communion. Conflict: How the Church Should Respond to Discord While the ideas of communion and communication are readily relatable to an understanding of the church, the theological significance of conflict to the church is not as apparent. In general, conflict refers to disagreement, discord, controversy or opposition between two or more people, ideas, or activities. 34 As a result, conflict can take many forms, from respectful disagreement in conversation, to physical altercations, violence, various forms of institutional oppression, and even war. That conflict has been part of the life of the church from the very beginning is a point which merits theological attention. Such conflict has roots which can be traced back to the Scriptures themselves, which bear witness to the reality of conflict in the early church. The New Testament contains many references to disagreements, tensions, and conflicts both within the early church, and between the church and the wider society as well. Gregory Baum himself has remarked that the churches today do not have an adequate theology to 34 Cf. Random House Unabridged Dictionary 2 nd ed., s.v. conflict.

28 17 account for the place of conflict in the Church, though conflict has been a dimension of church life from the beginning, as we learn from the Acts of the Apostles. 35 In fact, Acts presents several persecutions of early Christian witnesses, including Stephen and Paul, and also indicates significant practical and theological points of tension and debate within the church itself. 36 A particularly noteworthy example is the account of no small dissention and debate which accompanied a division of views over the need to subject Gentiles to the demands of the Jewish Torah in order for them to become Christians, and the subsequent attempt at a resolution formulated by the Council of Jerusalem. 37 Additional evidence of conflict in the early church can be found in the letters of Paul, which contain rhetoric designed to counter the influence of, and shame, other Jewish and Christian preachers whose teaching departed from his own. 38 Finally, one of the Book of Revelation s central images is that of an apocalyptic final battle between the forces of God and the Lamb on the one side, and the Beast and his followers on the other, which results in cataclysmic destruction of the created order, followed by the eschatological renewal of 35 Cf. this author s correspondence with Gregory Baum from January 20-26, 2014 in the Appendix. 36 Cf. Acts 4:1-21, 5:1-10, 5:27-4, 7:54-8:3; 8:9-24; 13:44-14:7, Cf. Acts Prominent examples of Paul s incisive rhetoric can be found throughout the First Letter to the Corinthians as he reprimands his hearers for deserting aspects of his teaching about Christ. Cf. Raymond Brown, Introduction to the New Testament (New York: Doubleday, 1997), 511, where Brown indicates that the extensive correspondence Paul had with the Corinthians reflected an extended period of tension and discord there. Similarly, in the Letter to the Galatians, Paul reprimands the Galatians for falling under the influence of external preachers who wished to impose the Mosaic law on Gentile believers. Cf. Ibid.,

29 18 creation. 39 These images have come to be understood as arising from a church under moderate to severe persecution from the Roman Empire. 40 Besides the Scriptures, church history indicates that many different forms of conflict have been part of the life of the church since its beginning. There are many examples of significant conflicts in all eras, but naming a few will suffice. The early church, threatened intermittently in the first three centuries of its existence by persecutions both large and small developed various apologias, or defenses, of the faith to combat misperceptions and false accusations. 41 Some believers were martyrs for the faith. 42 Following the Edict of Milan (A.D. 313) issued by Constantine and the social legitimization of Christianity which it entailed, 43 the church still faced tensions within. The First Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) and subsequent ecumenical councils were convened as a series of significant doctrinal disputes created serious divisions in the church. 44 The centuries-long tensions between the eastern and western halves of the church eventually led to the schism between the Orthodox and Latin churches in the eleventh century, and the polemics and violence which marked that division remained for centuries more Cf. Rev Cf. Brown, Introduction to the New Testament, Cf. Jaroslav Pelikan, The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition ( ), vol. 1, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1971), Cf. Henry Chadwick, The Early Church, rev. ed. (London: Penguin, 1993), 29-31, , and Vivian Green, A New History of Christianity (New York: Sutton Publishing, 1996), Cf. Chadwick, The Early Church, Cf. Ibid., chapters 5-6 and 8-15, which cover this period and its doctrinal controversies in great detail. See also Green, A New History, Within the Orthodox tradition of the East, the violence associated with the Latin Crusades in the late twelfth century, along with the sacking of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, are particularly painful memories. Cf. Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (New York: Penguin, 1993),

30 19 Doctrinal and political conflict marked the church during the medieval period as well, with regard, for example, to the expanded role of the pope in secular affairs and the political conflicts this sometimes entailed, 46 the establishment and operation of the Crusades in the Holy Land and the related hostility expressed within the church to those outside of it, especially towards Muslims and Jews, 47 the activities of the Spanish and Roman Inquisitions in their efforts to eradicate heresy, 48 and the Great Western Schism, arising from rival claims to the papacy. 49 The fracturing of Europe and confessional wars following the upheaval of the Protestant Reformation is a further example from the early modern period, 50 as are the religious polemics between Catholics and Protestants, which remained significant for centuries. Still today, there exist situations of conflict in which the church is persecuted in various parts of the world, For a comprehensive presentation of the expansion of the political power of the papacy during the early medieval period and beyond see Marc Reuver, Requiem for Constantine: A Vision of the Future of Church and State in the West (Kampen, Netherlands: Kok, 1996), Cf. also Joseph H. Lynch, The Medieval Church: A Brief History (London: Longman, 1992), 63-64, and Eric Plumer, The Development of Ecclesiology: Early Church to the Reformation, in The Gift of the Church, ed. Peter C. Phan (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000), Cf. Lynch, The Medieval Church, Cf. Michael C. Thomsett, The Inquisition: A History (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2010), Cf. Lynch, The Medieval Church, A helpful summary of the violence and wars associated with the polemics and politics among both Catholics and Protestants during the early Reformation period is presented in Owen Chadwick, The Reformation (Baltimore: Penguin, 1964), While Chadwick clearly noted that the violence and wars associated with the religious divisions were also motivated by political posturing, nationalism, and greed, the influence of religious polemics began to rise in tandem with political upheaval. This development is treated in detail by Gerald R. Craigg, The Church and the Age of Reason: (Baltimore: Penguin, 1960). 51 Cf. Caroline Cox and Benedict Rogers, The Very Stones Cry Out: The Persecuted Church: Pain, Passion and Praise (London: Continuum, 2011), which provides detailed and well-researched international examples of churches throughout the world suffering under persecution in various forms. See also an even more recent book by John Allen, Jr., The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution (New York: Image, 2013).

31 20 while, in others, polarization of viewpoints about various issues influences the inner life both of the Catholic Church and of many other Christian denominations. 52 Even this cursory list is illustrative of the point that the church has had to deal with the reality of conflict, in some form or another, for its entire history. Conflict thus merits theological consideration. It especially deserves attention from those churches, such as the Catholic Church, which view the church as a communion of believers united in love through the grace of God, as discussed above. The respective ecclesiologies of Baum and Granfield seek to address aspects of both historical and contemporary conflicts in the life of the church. Baum recognizes that conflicts in the church and the world are multifaceted. He maintains that a genuine understanding of the church as communion, along with an awareness of the requirement of the church properly to communicate its teaching and the offer of salvation to others, necessitate that it pay careful attention to such conflicts. He indicates that the church should seek to identify the causes of tensions and conflicts so as to address them forthrightly. As will be seen, while he recognizes that conflict could arise from sin and its effects in both the church and the world, he also realizes that it could be the result of tensions between the institutional and prophetic aspects of the church. The church therefore has a need to understand and assess the causes of conflict in its life so that it can alleviate the negative effects of such conflict while enhancing potentially positive 52 Though it is an older study, Hans Küng and Walter Kasper (eds.), Polarization in the Church (Glen Rock, NJ: Concilium, 1973) provides several excellent articles detailing the causes of and the extent of polarization around many issues in the churches in the 1970s, which are still relevant today.

32 21 ones. Baum in fact maintains that a measured and attentive response to conflict can contribute to the ongoing growth and renewal of the church. For his part, Granfield similarly recognized that a nuanced understanding of the causes of conflict is essential to the church. He sought to identify the social dynamics of power and conflict present within ecclesiastical processes so that the church could adapt its institutions and structures to both account for these realities and respond effectively to them. Doing so, he maintained, would enhance the church s communion and communication. He argued that these systemic structural changes were not simply an historical or sociological necessity, but a theological one, enabling the church to preserve and enhance the visible aspects of its communion, for the sake of its mission. The above accounts of communion, communication and conflict and of their relationship to the church offer an entry point to further examination of how these terms are used by Baum and Granfield in their respective ecclesiologies. The works of both men can now be reviewed in greater detail so as to understand how their thought developed with respect to these three realities in the life of the church. However, before these more detailed examinations of Baum and Granfield s ideas are given, it is important to review their biographies so as to see how the varied life experiences of both men played a role in shaping their theologies.

33 Chapter 2: Biographical Sketches of Baum and Granfield This chapter will provide brief biographical sketches of Baum and Granfield, with specific attention to the experiences which shaped their respective views on these three realities in the church. In conjunction with the previous chapter s more broad presentation of communion, communication and conflict, these biographical sketches will provide context for the detailed examinations of each man s respective ecclesiology in subsequent chapters. Gregory Baum Much of my life has been a surprise to me. The important events of my biography have been gifts out of the blue. 1 This statement from Gregory Baum (b. 1923), from the Afterword of a 1987 festschrift honoring his work, is from the very few pages in an academic corpus of over a dozen books and hundreds of articles and lectures 2 in which Baum references his own biography. These few pages, along with information supplied by others, serve as a helpful introduction to this man, now over 90 years of age. Baum was born in 1923, in Berlin, to a 1 Gregory Baum, Afterword, in Faith That Transforms: Essays in Honor of Gregory Baum ed. Mary Jo Leddy, N.D.S. and Mary Ann Hinsdale, I.H.M. (New York: Paulist, 1987), A comprehensive chronological bibliography of Baum s works from was compiled by Stephen J. Schäfer in Faith That Transforms, Additional summary bibliographies for 1986 and 1987, can be found in Rebecca McKenna, The Mission of the Church in the Writings of Gregory Baum From (Ph.D diss., University of St. Michael s College, Toronto, 1996), Since 1987, Baum s books have included Compassion and Solidarity: The Church for Others (New York: Paulist, 1990); Essays in Critical Theology (Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1994); Karl Polanyi on Ethics and Economics (Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1996); Nationalism, Religion, and Ethics (Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2001); Amazing Church: A Catholic Theologian Remembers a Half-Century of Change (Novalis: Toronto, 2005); and The Theology of Tariq Ramadan: A Catholic Perspective (South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2009). Baum has also edited a collection of essays during this period, The Twentieth Century: A Theological Overview (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1999), and written numerous other smaller articles on a broad range of theological and interdisciplinary topics. 22