Started to read a book recently about the power struggles in the Church during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Was referring to papal authority especially and the pontificates of Pius IX and Pius XII.
I often wonder how reunification of the Catholic Church with the Orthodox churches will occur, given our present understanding of papal power. If one accepts the definition of “power” as being the ability to created change, then how can we take the Church’s teaching on papal infallibility, and on collegiality, and operationalize it to work toward unity of the Churchs?
Vatican II opened some doors it seems toward that reconciliation when it spoke so eloquently of collegiality. I hope those doors have not been closing in the past few decades.
This is where knowledge of the history of the Church becomes so important. It is a rich history, one that a relatively few know or take the time to study. Our strength is in our diversity, which to me is another way of saying our unity is in our diversity. The Church always holds in dynamic tension various aspects of what is true.
May we find our way toward reconciliation, and the proper use of power in our Church today.