Speaking The Truth In Love:
Teaching Authority
Among Catholics And Methodists

Report of The Joint Commission Between The Roman Catholic Church
and The World Methodist Council
1997 – 2001

Seventh Series

PREFACE

    During the past five years the Joint Commission between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Methodist Council has studied the exercise of teaching authority within and by the Church. In doing so, it has taken further the understanding recorded in previous statements of the Joint Commission, The Word of Life (1996) and, before that, The Apostolic Tradition (1991). The themes of the Holy Spirit and the Church, studied in previous phases of this dialogue, have now led to the more precise question of how the faith which comes from the apostles is transmitted from generation to generation in such a way that all the faithful continue to adhere to the revelation that has come in Christ Jesus. The teaching ministry in the Church is a particular means for this transmission and for ensuring faithfulness not only in believing but also in what is believed. This latest statement contributes one more piece to a mosaic which has been slowly developed, illustrating the various interlocking elements which, through the power of the Holy Spirit, contribute to the life of the Church as a faithful bearer of the revelation of Jesus Christ to succeeding generations.

    A word may be helpful about the general structure of the present report, which deviates a little from the pattern customary in bilateral dialogues. The introduction indicates the biblical dynamic which energized the work of the Commission during this quinquennium. Then the bulk of the document consists of two parts that differ from each other in nature. The first part states in systematic form what the Commission believes it possible for Catholics and Methodists to agree on in the matter of authoritative teaching, noting along the way such divergences as remain and some questions which each side would wish to put to the other. The second part describes the current understandings and practices internal to Methodism and Catholicism respectively, though in a style intended to be more readily intelligible by the partner and by others. Ideally, the reader approaching the report with little knowledge of one or both partners will read this second, descriptive part of the report first and will then return to it in order to see what achievements and challenges the first, systematic part of the report represents. The general conclusion of the report, in fact, synthesizes the recognizable commonalities between Catholicism and Methodism and formulates the outstanding differences in terms of work still to be done.

    Experiencing both continuity and changes in membership from previous rounds, the Joint Commission has enjoyed excellent working relationships and once more developed the mutual trust that comes from devotion to a common Lord and to a common goal, namely, the attainment between our churches of "full communion in faith, mission, and sacramental life." We have thought together, written together, prayed together, and reverently attended each other's eucharistic gatherings.

    The present document is the work of a Joint Commission whose members are officially appointed by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and by the World Methodist Council. We respectfully offer this report to our sponsors and ask for their evaluation of it.

The Status of this Document

The Report published here is the work of the Joint Commission for Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Methodist Council. It is a statement from the Commission. The authorities who appointed the Commission have allowed the report to be published so that it may be widely discussed. It is not an authoritative declaration by the Roman Catholic Church or by the World Methodist Council, who will evaluate the document in order to take a position on it in due time.

Ephesians 4:1-16

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord,
beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been
called,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another in love,
making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace.
There is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a
captive;
he gave gifts to his people." (When it says, "He ascended,"
what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of
the earth?
He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens,
so that he might fill all things.)

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of
Christ,
until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God,
to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every
wind of doctrine,
by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.
But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who
is the head,
into Christ, from whom the whole body,
joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped,
as each part is working properly,
promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.

New Revised Standard Version