The Authority of the Church in the World:  A United Church of Christ Perspective, Rev. Dr. Susan E. Davies
 

Authority of the Church in the World: A Latino/a Catholic Perspective

Orlando O. Espín, Ph.D., Th.D.
University of San Diego 

Initial considerations

I am Catholic and Latino.[1]  These two realities are neither coextensive nor mutually necessitated, but they are both part of me and of my theology.  Although my work has frequently engaged me in intense ecumenical dialogue with Latino/a colleagues, it is my understanding that this very brief text is expected to convey a Latino/a Catholic perspective on the question of the authority of the Church in the world.  And so, let the reader note the preceding and underlined indefinite article as well as the understandable Catholic tone of the present text. 

It is standard Catholic teaching to define the "Church" as the entire (baptized) "People of God."  This teaching, in turn, is typically refined so as to allow for various degrees of membership in the Church (thereby seeking to understand how the members of other Christian churches relate to/with each other and specifically to the Catholic church).[2]  And there is still another further refinement that considers the possible relationship(s) to the Church on the part of non-Christians.[3]  None of this is new in Catholic theology, but it obviously raises the question as to who are we talking about when we use the term "Church"-- because the Church is, first and foremost, a "who" (before it ever becomes a "what"). 

And it is precisely the question of "who" is the Church that needs to be raised first in any discussion regarding the authority of the Church in the world.[4]  In other words, who is the Church we speak of is a crucially important starting point in any discussion of ecclesial authority in the world, because the latter issue necessarily refers us to who has that authority.  Furthermore, who is the Church also implicates the fundamental (and theologically prior) question of the presence of the Church in the real world-- because without presence in the world there can be no serious talk of the Church's authority in the world.  

The development of Catholic polity (with its accompanying doctrinal development) seems to have sometimes assumed that those who speak for the Catholic church in/to the world are the episcopate and the Roman see.  This, however, is developmentally and doctrinally distinct from authority in the church.  And this distinction is important, because it is possible to affirm that those in authority within the Catholic church are the bishops and pope, while not necessarily affirming (as a necessary consequence) that the only ones who speak for the church (in and to the world) are the bishops and pope.  As a matter of fact, explicit Catholic teaching recognizes that all members of the Church have the obligation (because of their baptismal commitment, and not because of canonical concession) to announce the Gospel and to witness as Christians in and to the world.  The Church as a whole is responsible for mission, for evangelization, for the proclamation of the Christian message.[5]  The Church as a whole has to impact the world in the myriad manners congruent with and required by the Christian Gospel.  Consequently, the authority of the Church in the world cannot be reduced to the word and work of the ordained. 

Any consideration of who is the Church, it seems to me, defines who has the Church's authority to speak in/to the world, because that authority is wholly dependent on Gospel, faith and baptism.  Furthermore, any demonstration or exercise of the authority of the Church in the world, furthermore, is wholly dependent on the Church's active and real presence in the world-- and to some degree, because the presence of the Church in the world has to be acknowledged by that world in order to be pastorally effective, the authority of the Church (and for the same reason) also requires the acknowledgment of the world.  Who is the human face of the Church, therefore, defines for the world the Church's authority. 

That having been said, we may proceed to very briefly reflect further on some conditions for the Church's authority in the world, knowing that we must speak of the whole Church as it exists in fact (and not merely or mainly in theological theory). 

Who is the Church?

It is doctrinally and theologically unacceptable (at least within Catholicism) to attempt any dogmatic separation between the ordained and the laity.  Clearly (again within Catholicism) they might have distinct ministries, but the point is that both the laity and the ordained are members of the same church and thus share in the same responsibilities imposed on all by Gospel, faith and baptism.  The diverse manners in and through which the laity and the ordained might carry out those responsibilities do not cancel the fact that they all share the same call to witness to and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the world.  As I said earlier, this obligation belongs to all members of the Church and it is not the province of a few. 

But who is the Church that has received these responsibilities, and thus has the authority to speak the Gospel in/to the world?  Demographically the Catholic church is no longer a European community.  Most Catholics in the world (and this has been so for at least a century or more) live in the so-called Third World.  Furthermore, many Catholics today are members of ethnic/cultural minorities within the First World.  

For example, the best statistical studies suggest that at least 41% of all Catholics in the United States are Latinos/as.[6]  Indeed, the Latino/a population is the fastest growing segment of the U.S. Catholic church and of U.S. society as a whole.  From 1970 to 2000 the number of Latino/a Catholics increased by over 18 million in the U.S., or 264%.  This increase accounted for 86% of all growth in the U.S. Catholic church during that same period.  Further projections indicate that before 2025 more than half of all U.S. Catholics will be Latino/a, even if immigration were completely stopped.  A recent study found that 41% of all Catholics under the age of 30 are Latino/a, as well as 48% of all Catholics under age ten; and in the two most populous states (California and Texas) over 70% of all Catholics under 30 already are Latino/a.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between 1990 and 2000 the national Latino/a population between the ages of 15 and 29 increased by 54% while the non-Latino/a white population decreased by 11%; and the Latino/a population under age of ten increased by 62% compared to a 10% decrease in the non-Latino/a white population in the same age bracket. 

The statistics above (and many others) strongly suggest that the U.S. Catholic church is rapidly becoming a Latino/a church.[7]  Worldwide, Catholicism already counts half of all of its members in Latin America.  The future of the Catholic church, therefore, lies with U.S. Latinos/as and Latin Americans.[8] 

It seems, therefore, that reaffirming the Catholic teaching on the whole Church's responsibility to proclaim and witness to the Gospel is crucial for the future presence of Catholicism in the U.S. and in the world. [9] Because it is inescapable to conclude that whatever authority the Church has in the world is clearly and wholly dependent on the presence of the real Church in the world.  This presence, with regards to the Catholic church, is no longer (if it ever was) in the hands of the ordained, and no longer in the hands of "whites."  In the United States the Catholic church pastorally ignores its Latino/a members (or treats them as second-class Catholics) at its own risk. 

Who is the real Church implies whose presence is the Church's presence in the world.  While this, in turn, means that those who are the explicit presence of the Church in the world (i.e., the Church's real human face) are the ones perceived by the world as the Church, and thus the ones who bear the authority of the Church in/to the real world. 

Presence and Authority of the Church in the World

From the two preceding sections it seems reasonable to suggest that the question of the authority of the Church cannot be realistically raised until we first question who is the Church (in fact, and not in theological theory) because this "who" is/are the only presence of the real Church in the real world (i.e., the only Church and the only world that in fact exist).  And without factual presence in the world (i.e., without a human face) there cannot be any serious discussion of any authority of the Church in the world. 

However, this is further complicated by the fact that those who are the presence (and consequentially the bearers of the authority) of the Church in the world are not generic human beings, but persons and communities who are culturally, socially, historically, linguistically (and etc.) contextualized.  Nothing human is a-contextual, and thus all Christianity is, and has to be, contextualized or it would be a mere lifeless theory.[10]  Consequently, the Church and its presence in the world (and, therefore, the Church's authority in that same world) are made possible and limited by the cultural, social, historical (and etc.) contexts and circumstances of the real People of God. 

To conclude:  The question of the authority of the Church in the world cannot be realistically raised and answered without first seriously engaging the realities of the "who" is the Church and their inescapably contextualized presence in the real world (i.e., the contextualized human face of the Church in the world).  This necessitates further theological (and other) reflection that will impact our understanding of much of what we often hold as doctrinally important or dogmatically required.  

The demographic realities of the Church today and the profound contextualizations they imply, as well as the demographic (and other) realities of the contemporary world that supposedly "hears the Word" through the real Church, do not allow us to assume that Christians (of any denomination) can theologically and pastorally discuss their authority in the world without first taking a deeper and serious look at themselves and their world.  They might again hear God's call for their own conversion.