Baptism, not bishops or pope, unites the church

Friday, June 17th, 2011

“Baptism unites the church, not ordination,” theologian and author Anthony T. Padovano told more than 1,800 reform-minded Catholics gathered June 10-12 at Detroit’s Cobo Hall.

Addressing the inaugural national meeting of the American Catholic Council on June 11, he said, “The pope does not unify or sanctify the church and make it catholic or apostolic. This is the work of the Spirit and the community. The pope is an institutional sign of a unity already achieved by the faithful. The pope does not create a community of believers or validate baptisms or make the Eucharist occur.”

Padovano was first president of CORPUS, an organization originally formed to seek return of married priests to ministry but now advocating “inclusive ministry,” meaning also the ordination of women.

Most of his talk focused on the fact of changes in the church’s history, the need for such change, and how the sensus fidelium, the sense of the faithful as to the church’s beliefs and practices, often preceded the recognition by church authorities that change was needed.

“This consensus of the faithful is never valid if it is forced,” he said. “In a totalitarian system, force is a factor in creating compliance. In a believing community, agreement must be free.”

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