Reform in the church: the art of getting it right!
IT WAS an honour for me to attend the conference on April 22nd 2017 entitled Ecclesia Semper Reformanda organised by SEARCH. In fact, it felt like a home-coming. One reason is that I had spent four years studying social science in the nearby Arts Block of Trinity College in the early 1980s. Another reason is that I have had many Anglican friends in Kenya and in Rome in subsequent years and making new acquaintances among members of the Church of Ireland was a delight. In what follows, I o er an account of insights I received from the speakers at the colloquium, as well as from the discussion that occurred between speakers and other participants. I conclude with some personal reflections
The conference was held to mark the 500-year anniversary of the reform of the church begun with Martin Luther, which in uenced also the Anglican reformation. It also gave generous attention to the recent publication of a book, The Church Always in Need of Reform, by Gabriel Daly OSA. Predating the Colloquium, Daly had already focussed on the Lutheran theologian Paul Tillich’s insistence that the notion of reform should not be identi ed with a single event in the sixteenth century but should be recognised as central to the identity of the church. In this respect, Tillich introduced notions of “protestant principle” and “Catholic substance,” which Gabriel Daly summarised in a paragraph cited by W.G. Jeanrond on page 90.
* Full article available in printed copies.
Gerard Whelan SJ
teaches seminarians at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and is currently working on a book on Pope Francis and Bernard Lonergan.