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Ecumenical consensus is that the churches need renewal. The present crisis affects its nature, consequently reform must come from the nature itself. This is outlined by the four attributes of the Nicene Creed. The essay examines catholicity with particular focus on ecumenism as practiced by Roman Catholics today. The result is very deficient: uniformism, clericalism, securing power, patriarchalism dominate the agenda, so says even Pope Francis himself. How Catholica could be effectively renewed is discussed in the last part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Church faces a crisis of identity today because it has not addressed the conflict inherited from Vatican II between the Church as a society and as communion. The author argues for the priority of the image of the people of God in ecclesiology and draws out some implications for the Church's self-understanding. He calls the Church to clarify the place and meaning of the laity and their charisms, and challenges the Church to rethink her ministry to better express her underlying identity. Practical implications of this effort are presented, including the role of the sensus fidelium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

50 years ago, Paul VI tried to end the discussion about hormonal contraceptives (the pill) by the strict ban of so-called "artificial contraception" with the Encyclical "Humanae Vitae". This failed not only almost completely, but released a heavy general inner church crisis which stretched far beyond the occasion. The problem of the reception or in this case the non-reception of teaching instructions became acute in never known manner and also concerns the ecumenical work. The basic idea behind all the discussions is to find out of which importance the sense of the faith (sensus fidelium) is for the process of finding and proclaiming the faith. This becomes specifically obvious in the differences of communication between church leaders and the congregation. Is it of theological importance if it becomes more and more difficult for the congregation to understand and interpret the reservations of the church leaders?. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although justification is an important subject for the Reformers and is not yet unimportant from a theological point of view (despite the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999), it is unimportant for today's Christians: They understand neither the problem nor the language. Nevertheless, it is a keyword of the Christian message even here and now. These explanations try to analyze the biblical teaching and its evolvement and want to point out the importance for our life in our times on the one hand and on the other hand, want to emphasize that different perspectives are essential. Consequently, the reformatory- existential approach has to correspond to the Catholic-sapiential approach so that differences remain important in an ecumenical reconcilement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Roman Catholic doctrine, the pope alone as well as the bishops in union with him are the supreme teaching and governing body of the church. The antagonistic and false forms of "conciliarism" (the council as supreme authority of the church even above or against the pope) and "papalism" (the pope as single supreme authority of the church) show that the relationship between the pope and the bishops is not yet exactly clarified. The analysis of the Council of Constance (conciliarism) and of the papal dogmas of 1870 indicates that both are based on the same ecclesiology; in this ecclesiology, the ministry represents Christ, but as such is in need of supplement. Both models can be combined in the characteristic features of conciliarity: openness, dialogue and acceptance. This has consequences for the ecumenical dialogue whose main problem is the theology of ministry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most disputed points of all ecumenical discussions has been the intermittent accusation that those of other faith confessions are sinners living in sinful communities and who are thus excluded from the "Ecclesia sancta" of the credo. These respond by maintaining that their community is indeed holy, even though they might include some sinners within their fold. The Bible teaches that holiness is entirely a gift of God and that sin is purely a result of human wrongdoing. In so far as the Church mediates God's salvation by word, sacrament and ministry, she is ineradicably holy, but as she mediates these through fallible human beings, she invariably coexists with sin. This inextricable dialectic is only endurable if we believe and trust in the victorious power of the salvation of the cross. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]