Interview with Cardinal Schoenborn:
Schuelerkreis discussion of ecumenism
highlights its importance to Benedict XVI
Translated from the Italian service of
August 30, 2012
Starting tomorrow, theologians, professors and pastors of the Ratzinger Schuelerkreis - ex-doctoral students of Prof. Joseph Ratzinger - will be holding their annual summer seminar-reunion in Castel Gandolfo.
The closed-door seminar will be considering the status of ecumenism today, especially relations with Lutherans and Anglicans, on the basis of the 2009 book
Reaping the Fruits written by Cardinal Walter Kasper before he retired as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, in which he discusses developments in the four decades since the Second Vatican Council promulgated a degree on ecumenism.
Gudrun Sailer, of the German service of Vatican Radio, interviewed Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, Archbishop of Vienna and member of the Schuelerkreis
[He already had a doctorate in theology from the Sorbonne when he attended Prof. Ratzinger's doctoral colloquia as a 'visiting scholar' for two semesters at the University of Regensburg in the early 1970s. Mons. Vincent Twomey recalls that Schoenborn joined the Schuelerkreis meetings only in 1977, after Prof. Ratzinger was named Archbishop of Munich-Freising..]
CARDINAL SCHOENBORN: This year, we shall have the emeritus Lutheran bishop Ulrich Wilkens, a famous exegete, who will speak on the progress of relations between Catholics and Lutherans. Mons Charles Morerod, who was recently named Bishop of of Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, who is an expert on the matter, will speak on the relations with the Anglicans.
[Mons. Morerod was previously a theologian at the CDF, and was on the Vatican panel that held the doctirnal discussions with FSSPX theologians.] And Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will be there.
The fact that the Holy Father chose this theme for this year's seminar is a sign that he considers the ecumenical question of primary importance. In the context of the 50th anniversary of Vatican II this year, it is a strong sign of the Holy Father's insistence on the importance of the dialog among separated Christians.
In five years it will be the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Will this in some way be a background for the seminar discussions?
I think that inevitably it will be the horizon for the Lutherans and the Anglicans because they were born from the Reformation. And the truth includes the tragedy of the division among the Christians of Europe, and consequently, in all the world.
But it also concerns the great theme of reform in the Catholic Church itself, which is of key importance to the Holy Father. Think of all that he has said and taught about reform in continuity as the model for reform within the Church. In the context of the Reformation, much will be said about this internal reform, the true reform that we need today.
How exactly do the discussions go in the Schuelerkreis?
It's an academic circle, which means that it's the reasoning that counts. Of course, there is the friendship among people who have been meeting each other once a year for more than 30 years. All of us are almost at retirement age!
The Holy Father remains the 'youngest' of us all. It was always that way. It is what I have experienced all these years. Above all, he is a man of reflection. What matters to him is reasoning and the search for truth. If it had not been possible to discuss anything openly with him, there would not have been a Schuelerkreis.
This atmosphere of searching for the truth - whether it is historical, philosophical or theological - has remained invariable, with the added value of friendship.
What always strikes me is how well the Holy Father knows his ex-students: He asks them about their families, their children. He knows when there has been sadness or difficulty in the family, and it concerns him... This human aspect - paternal and fraternal - is always present in him. And I think this is one of the reasons why this 'circle' has kept itself together since 1977.
We understand that at the start of each seminar, the Holy Father generally gives an overview of the situation in the Church and the Vatican since the previous seminar. What aspects do you yourself expect him to stress this time?
It is always a very important moment in our annual meetings, and it already was 30 years ago... At that time, he would speak of the situation from his view at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, so we always looked forward with great interest to this
tour d'horizon - we all take notes.
This year, what will the signals be from the Holy Father? Just think of the major issues in the past 12 months! For us, it is always enlightening to see not just which issues the Holy Father takes up but how he does it - the light of wisdom and of perspicacity that he brings to bear on the issues.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 30/08/2012 22:55]