Catholic Scholars' Declaration on Authority in the Church

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) we call on all other members of the People of God to assess the situation in our church.

Many of the key insights of Vatican II have not at all, or only partially, been implemented. This has been due to resistance in some quarters, but also to a measure of ambiguity that remained unresolved in certain Council documents.

A principal source of present-day stagnation lies in misunderstanding and abuse affecting the exercise of authority in our Church. Specifically, the following issues require urgent redress:

The role of the papacy needs to be clearly re-defined in line with Christ’s intentions. As supreme pastor, unifier and prime witness to faith, the pope contributes substantially to the health of the universal church. However, his authority may never obscure, diminish or suppress the authentic authority directly given by Christ to all members of the people of God.

Bishops are vicars of Christ, not vicars of the pope. They carry immediate responsibility for people in their dioceses, and joint responsibility, with other bishops and the pope, for the world-wide community of faith.

The central synod of bishops should assume a more decisive role in planning and guiding the maintenance and growth of faith within our complex world. To execute its task, the synod of bishops needs to be given appropriate structures.

The Second Vatican Council prescribed collegiality and co-responsibility on all levels. This has not been realised. Priestly senates and pastoral councils, as envisaged by the Council, should involve the faithful more directly in decision making concerning the formulation of doctrine, the running of the pastoral ministry and evangelization in secular society.

The abuse of choosing for leadership offices in the church only candidates of a particular mindset, should be eradicated. Instead, new norms should be laid down and supervised to ensure that elections to such offices are conducted in a fair, transparent and, to the extent possible, democratic fashion.

The Roman curia requires a more radical reform, in line with the instructions and vision of Vatican II. The curia should be retained for its useful administrative and executive roles.

The congregation for the doctrine of the faith should be assisted by international commissions of experts who have been independently chosen for their professional competence.

These are by no means all the changes that may be required. We also realise that the implementation of such structural revisions will need to be worked out in detail according to the possibilities and limitations of present and future circumstances. However, we stress that the seven reforms outlined above are urgent and their implementation should be started immediately.

The exercise of authority in our church should emulate the standards of openness, accountability and democracy achieved in modern society. Leadership should be seen to be honest and credible; inspired by humility and service; breathing concern for people rather than preoccupation with rules and discipline; radiating a Christ who makes us free; and listening to Christ’s Spirit who speaks and acts through each and every person.

8 December 2015

Names of the 216 Scholars who signed the Declaration

click on each name to see the person’s credentials

Dr Kochurani Abraham	_Prof Mario I. Aguilar	Prof Xavier Alegre
Prof M Amaladoss	Prof Francis Ambrosio	Prof Subhash Anand
Prof María P. Aquino	Prof Edmund Arens	_Prof Simón Arnold
Prof Ann Marie Bahr	Prof Juan Barreto	Dom Marcelo Barros
Prof Tadeusz Bartoś	Prof Ardyth Bass	Prof Gregory Baum
Prof Tina Beattie	Prof Michel Beaudin	Prof Peter Beisheim
Prof Eugene C. Bianchi	Prof Leonardo Boff	Dr Sharon Bong
Prof Kari Børresen	Prof Raymond Breton	Prof J Brosseder
_Prof Hugo Cáceres	Prof Deirdre Carabine	Dr Yves Carrier
Bishop P Casaldáliga	Prof José M. Castillo	Dr P Chakkalakal
prof Ricardo Chica	Prof John J Collins	Dr John N Collins
Dr Paul Collins	Dr Mary Condren	Dr L B Confalonieri
Prof Michael Cook	Prof Kathleen Coyle	Prof M Czajkowski
Prof James Dallen	Prof Gabriel Daly	Dr M. Daly-Denton
Prof Charles DeCelles	Dr David DeCosse	Prof M Delaporte
Prof Paul Dinter	Dr Donal Dorr	Prof John Downey
Dr Thomas Doyle	Dr Anneke Driessen	Antonio Duato
Prof John Esposito	Dr Annette Esser	Prof Juan A. Estrada
Prof R. van Eyden	Prof Seán Fagan	Prof José I. G. Faus
Dr Teresa Forcades	Dr Benjamin Forcano	Prof Manuel Fraijó
Prof Seán Freyne	Prof Jojo Fung	Dr Astrid Gajiwala
Prof Joaquín García	Prof G Gispert-Sauch	Prof Conor Gearty
Prof F. Gonsalves	Prof Mary Grey	Prof Gerald Grudzen
Prof Christine Gudorf	Bishop Tom Gumbleton	Prof Hermann Häring
Prof W. Harrington	Prof G. Hasenhüttl	Prof John F Haught
Prof Karin Heller	Bishop H Hermes OSB	Dr F Himkelammert
Prof Linda Hogan	Prof Toine vd Hoogen	Prof Hornsby-Smith
Prof W Hryniewicz	Prof Dr G J Hughes	Lord Hylton
Dr Joseph Ishiwaki	Prof Jan Jans	Prof Martin Jäggle
Prof G. Jaron Lewis	Prof Marie R. Joyce	Prof Erik Jurgens
Prof Manuela Kalsky	Prof Leo Karrer	Prof Othmar Keel
Bar. Helena Kennedy	Dr G Kerber-Mas	Prof Ursula King
Prof W. Kirchschläger	_Prof Paul Knitter	Dr James Kottoor
Dr Ad Krijnen	Dr Richard Kropf	Prof Gerhard Kruip
Prof Hans Küng	Prof K.J. Kuschel	Prof L Laeyendecker
Prof Paul Lakeland	Prof Julia Lamm	Prof Bernhard Lang
Dr André Lascaris	Prof Michael Lawler	Prof Michel Lejeune
Dr Roger Lenaers	Dr Bernard Linares	Dr Eleazar López
Prof Gerard Loughlin	Prof K. Maas Weigert	Prof Gary Macy
Prof Vito Mancuso	Drs Vincent Manning	Prof Gerard Mannion
Prof Joseph Martos	Dr Judith Martin	Prof Juan Masiá
Prof Joseph Mattam	Prof Mary McAleese	Siobhain McDonagh MP
Prof Michael McKale	Prof Charles McMahon	Dr A Méndez-Montoya
Prof Norbert Mette	Prof Dietmar Mieth	Prof Paul Misner
Prof Alan Mitchell	Prof Carlo Molari	Prof Albert Moliner
Bishop William Morris	Dr Theresia Münch	Conc. Raúl Nava
Prof Inácio Neutzling	Prof Grácio das Neves	Prof Joseph A. Ngala
Prof Peter Nissen	Prof Stanislaw Obirek	Prof Joseph O’Leary
Prof T. O’Loughlin	Prof Francis Oakley	Prof A. Padovano
Prof Luis A Panchi	Prof J Pathrapankal	Prof Jesús Peláez
Prof R Penaskovic	Prof Peter C Phan	Prof Xabier Pikaza
Prof Pat Pinsent	Prof Margarita Pintos	Prof Kim E. Power
Bishop Pat Power	Prof G Prüller-Jag.	Prof A T Queiruga
Prof F Pastor Ramos	Prof J Gil i Ribas	Bishop Geoff Robinson
_Dr José A Robles	Prof Susan Roll	Dr Raúl Rosales
Sr Dr Pat Rumsey	Prof Rosem. Ruether	Prof Todd Salzman
Sr Christine Schenk	Prof S. Schneiders	Prof Sch. Straumann
Prof Sch. Fiorenza	Prof Joseph Selling	Prof E dela Serna
Prof Thomas Shannon	Prof Thomas Sheehan	Dr Fernando Silva
Prof John Sheveland	Dr Piotr Sobotka	Prof Geraldine Smyth
Prof Denise Starkey	Prof David Stronck	Prof John Sullivan
Prof Jung Mo Sung	Prof Luiz C. Susin	Prof Ingrid H. Shafer
Prof Leonard Swidler	Prof Juan José Tamayo	Prof Faustino Teixeira
Prof Samuel Thomas	Prof M S Thompson	Prof J. M. Thompson
Prof Ingrid H. Shafer	Prof Teresa Toldy	Prof Luiza Tomita
Prof David Torevell	Dr John Trumpbour	Prof Lilith Usog
Bishop Raúl Vera	Lect. José Vico	Prof Marciano Vidal
Prof José Maria Vigil	Dr Evaristo Villar	Prof Javier Vitoria
Prof Marie-Th. Wacker	Dr Michael Walsh	Prof Andrew Weigert
Dr Michael Winter	Prof Jozef Wissink	Prof Werner Wolbert
Prof Lode L Wostyn	Dr Aloys Wijngaards	Dr John Wijngaards
Prof Martín Velasco	Prof Adela Yarbro C.	Prof H.-G. Ziebertz
Prof A Gil de Zúñiga