The Roman Catholic Church engaged in a comprehensive process to reform, following various challenges, which it responded to in the form of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). In this section of the study, a review will be presented as to how “diakonia”
has been influential in the social ethics of the church and ecclesiology, especially in the Roman Catholic Church‟s ecumenical dimension.
Collins (1990:15), in focusing on the writings of the Second Vatican Council, explains that the word “diaconia” (the Latin form of the Greek) occurs only twice, both times in the Constitution on the Church. One of these instances refers to the diaconate not unnaturally as “the diaconia of liturgy, word and charity” and need not detain us. But the great interest should be that which relates to the office of the bishops. After the traditional dogmatic statement about the mission and authority of bishops as successors of the apostles, the paragraph adds the statement (in Latin terms parenthesis), “That office (munus)…is, in the strict sense of the term, a service (servitium), which is called very expressly in sacred scripture a diakonia (diaconia) or ministry (ministerium). Here, the Latin words “servitium,” “diaconia” and “ministerium” are synonymous, and they are used to counterbalance the high idea of “munus” – which is the traditional conceptualization of office previously described in the constitution- with the idea of office as service, indeed as lowly service.
One of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church – Lumen Gentium (LG) – (Directly translated from Latin, it means "Light of the Nations”) – in the universal call to holiness states:
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Thus it is evident to everyone that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of service – diakonia; by this holiness as such a more humane manner of living is promoted in this earthly society. In order that the faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their strength accordingly as they have received it, as a gift from Christ. They must follow in His footsteps and conform themselves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things. They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbor. In this way, the holiness of the People of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history (LG#40).
Thus, Lumen Gentium insists that in order to fulfill the diaconal role, the shepherds of Christ's flock and all the Christians in the image of the high and eternal priest, shepherd and bishop of our souls, should carry out their ministry with holiness and eagerness, with humility and fortitude. Once this ministry is fulfilled, it will be for them an outstanding means of sanctification, and “in that way those who are weighed down by poverty, infirmity, sickness and other hardships should realize that they are united to Christ, who suffers for the salvation of the world “(LG#41).
In the Post-Industrial age the Roman Catholic Church engaged in a comprehensive process of reform, the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) was regarded as the new Pentecost in the life of the Church. It was tasked with making the historical teachings of the Church clear to a modern world, and made pronouncements on topics including the nature of the Church, the mission of the laity and religious freedom. In addition the Second Vatican Council introduced the most significant changes to the Roman Catholic Church‟s practices; finding a common ground on certain issues with Protestant churches (Duffy 1997:270-6) and among them was service.
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In addition to the agenda of the Second Vatican Council, Pope John Paul II (1990) in the encyclical Redemptoris Missio (RM) – On the permanent validity of the Church‟s missionary mandate, elaborates as follows:
“The Church‟s task is described as though it had to proceed in two dimensions:
on the one hand promoting such „values of the kingdom‟ as peace, justice, freedom, brotherhood, etc, while on the other hand fostering dialogue between peoples, cultures and religions, so that through a mutual enrichment they might help the world to be renewed and to journey ever closer toward the kingdom”
(RM#17). And again: “A commitment to peace, justice, human rights and human promotion is also witness to the Gospel when it is a sign of concern for persons and is directed toward integral human development” (RM#42).
According to Williams (2009:48) in the encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), Pope Benedict XVI offers a historical analysis of the Church‟s commitment to service, tracing its origins to the apostolic period, as an essential characteristic of the Church‟s mission and self-identity. This institutional commitment is not only a historically verifiable practice but also a necessary activity stemming from the Church‟s identity, and willed by her Founder. The encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, states that “the Church cannot neglect the service any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word‟ (No. 22).
Again, Pope Benedict XVI (2005) in his encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, asserts that:
The Church‟s deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the word of God (kerygma-matryria), celebrating the sacraments (leitourgia) and exercising the ministry and service (diakonia). These duties presuppose each other and are inseparable. For the Church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could be equally well, be left to others, but is a part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her being (No. 25a).
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In his encyclical, Pope Benedict uses the term “charity” to mean love, service and not handouts. He uses the term “charity” to signify the love and support associated with empowerment which is the purpose of the diaconal role of the church. Having clarified the use of the term “charity,” Williams (2009:47) states that Pope Benedict begins his discussion on justice and charity as an answer to critics, especially Marxism, that posit a necessary antagonism and incompatibility between justice and charity. According to Marxist ideology, justice can only be achieved when charity is abolished, since insistence of charity only serves to preserve and propagate the status quo with its injustices. To this criticism, Pope Benedict responds that:
“Charity and justice complement one another and must advance hand in hand, as allies rather than adversaries. One cannot supplant the other since both are truly necessary. Even in a perfectly just political environment, charity would not be superfluous” (Williams 2009:47).
Pope Benedict (2005), in Deus Caritas Est, takes up the perennial message of the Roman Catholic social teaching that the state exists for the sake of the common good, to insure a just ordering of human society. He asserts that:
Catholic social doctrine “has no intention of giving the Church power over the State.” “The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the state” (No. 28a).
Instead, the Church gratefully recognizes the “autonomy of the temporal sphere” – in other words, the distinction between Church and State – as well as her own inadequacy for assuring a just ordering society (Williams 2009:48).
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Regarding the right of the Roman Catholic Church to perform “diakonia”, Pope Benedict claims for the Church a right to practice charity, and to do so in her own terms. In Deus Caritas Est, he insists:
For the Church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could equally well be left to others, but charity is part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her very being (No.25a).
Williams (2009:49-50) states that although charitable activity is a necessity for the Church, it is also necessary for society. It is a distinctive service, with characteristics that cannot be found elsewhere, not in other volunteer activities and much less in State services. In this regard, the encyclical Deus Caritas Est, clarifies that:
“There is no ordering of the State so just that it can eliminate the need for a service of love” and thus charity “will always prove necessary, even in the most just society” (No. 28b).
The researcher agrees with Williams‟ (2009:52-53) opinion, that a distinctive contribution of Deus Caritas Est (God is love) is its extensive description of Christian service and how it is to be carried out. While this may seem only tangentially an aspect of the Church‟s social teaching, in reality it is central to the Roman Catholic teaching regarding a Christian‟s role in society.
Again, Duffy (1997:270-6) emphasizes that the core of the ecclesiology, traditionally espoused in the Roman Catholic Church, was the authority and power exclusive to ordained ministers by which they might teach, govern, serve, and sanctify the faithful.
Therefore, the researcher believes that these few statements illustrate the main emphasis in the Second Vatican Council‟s statements about the ministry of diakonia.
While it is clear that the Church must continue the preaching and saving work of Jesus Christ, and that diakonia is the work of the Church as a whole within which the bishops
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should act by reason of their office; ministry itself is invoked to convey the idea that the work is a service that is lowly, and in the broadest terms beneficent.