A Service of Love: Papal Primacy, the Eucharist, and Church Unity

A crucial topic in Catholic-Orthodox ecumenical dialogue is the nature
and exercise of universal primacy in the church. In 1995, Pope John
Paul II expressed the hope that pastors and theologians of both churches
might seek ways in which the papal ministry could accomplish "a
service of love recognized by all concerned" (Ut Unum Sint). In this
short and penetrating study, Paul McPartlan, a member of the international
Roman Catholic-Orthodox theological dialogue, presents a
proposal, carefully argued both historically and theologically, for a primacy
exercising a service of love in a reconciled church, West and East.

McPartlan builds on the substantial foundation already laid in the
dialogue for an understanding of the church in terms of the Eucharist.
Eucharistic ecclesiology has been one of the most remarkable developments
in the theological renewal of recent decades. Drawing particularly
on scriptural and patristic teaching, it offers a highly promising framework
for resolving this most sensitive and difficult of issues―recognizing
the bishop of Rome as the focal point and servant of the Eucharistic
communion among bishops. Vatican II directed that those working for
reconciliation between Catholics and Orthodox pay close attention to the
relationships that pertained between the Eastern churches and the see of
Rome before the split of 1054. McPartlan seeks to do just that, notably incorporating
the teaching of the council on the role of the papacy to craft a
proposal that may commend itself to Catholics and to Orthodox.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Paul McPartlan is Carl J. Peter Professor of Systematic Theology and Ecumenism
at the Catholic University of America. He is a member of the International Theological
Commission and the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue
between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. A contributor to the
recently published Theology Today: Perspectives, Principles, and Criteria by the
International Theological Commission, McPartlan also is the author of The Eucharist
Makes the Church: Henri de Lubac and John Zizioulas in Dialogue and Sacrament of Salvation: An Introduction to Eucharistic Ecclesiology.