Yves Congar: essential writings. Edited by Paul Lakeland, Maryknoll: New York: Orbis Books, 2010. 204 pages. $US20.00 (paper)
The latest in Orbis Books’ ‘Modern Spiritual Masters Series’, Yves Congar: Essential Writings is a compilation of Congar’s works, selected by the editor, Paul Lakeland, with an extended biographical introduction. Lakeland’s purpose is to present selected excerpts from Congar’s opus of over 2000 works, as a means of introduction for the student or theologian to one of the 20th Century’s most influential Catholic Theologians. The book is reader friendly, and does not require extensive education in Catholic theology, history, or specific Catholic conventions. Despite its introductory character, I was impressed with the insightful contributions Congar has made in Catholic ecumenism, ecclesiology, lay theology and Pneumatology which form the significant partitions of the book.
When one reads theology, the ideas presented are often disconnected from the life of the author. We learn theology, but we do not necessarily see or learn how the individual lived as a theologian, in relationship with their Church and to others. The personal aspect of the materials included are thus perhaps one of the most inspiring aspects of this book, which includes excerpts from interviews, and Congar’s personal diaries. Lakeland does well to describe the man behind the writings, and the struggles and triumphs he had with his beloved Church.
Yves Congar was born in France in 1904. Having suffering under German occupation as a teenager in World War I, he entered minor seminary in 1919. He then moved to Paris in 1921 to study at the Institut Catholique and, after finishing his preparatory philosophical studies in 1924, he entered the Dominican Novitiate in Amiens in 1925. He studied theology at Le Saulchoir in Belgium, and was ordained on July 25, 1930. He began teaching at Le Saulchoir two years later, which began his career as a teacher and writer.
Despite growing up in traditional circles, he was a man devoted to the pursuit of truth, on the Aquinian model (p. 26) open and progressive in thought. His passion for truth, and his candidness, at times led to chastisement by his superiors. Most significant among these conflicts was his exile in the early 1950s, after a period of turbulent relations with his superiors during the conservative regime of Pope Pius XII. He was at first in "virtual house arrest in the Dominican Friary in Cambridge, England, and later in Jerusalem."(pp. 21-2) In a letter to his mother at the time, which Lakeland insightfully includes, he writes:
The French Dominicans… have been persecuted and reduced to silence… because they were the only ones to have a measure of freedom of thought, action, and expression…. It is quite clear to me that Rome wants and has ever wanted only one thing: the affirmation of its own authority."
He was soon to be reinstated to his teaching position, and with the election of Pope John XXIII and the announcement of Vatican II, he found himself a participant and significant contributor to the great aggiornamento. Indeed, Lakelands notes, "by most estimates, [he was] the single most important theological influence on Vatican II (pp. 23). His influence can be seen in the central document of the Council, Lumen gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, as well as the ecumenical nature, which vindicated his works preceeding and can be witness in his published journals of the time, Journal d’un théologien and Mon journal du concile (2 vols.). Congar’s contribution to Catholic theology went beyond the Council though.
His significant other works include his early ecumenical, Divided Christendom(1937);1 his Lay theology, Lay People in the Church (1953; rev. ed. 1964); his ecclesiological works, Tradition and Traditions (1960)2 and True and False Reform in the Church (1950);3 and his monumental three volume Pneumatology, I Believe in the Holy Spirit (1979-80).4 He was later in life elevated to cardinal, but was too sick to participate in the ceremony which was to be taken by Pope John Paul II. Congar was a disciplined man, private and humble, who lived a long and accomplished life, devoting himself to his study for his Church, and paying personal sacrifices willingly to do so. He worked hard right up until his death in Paris in June 22, 1995.
Of all his work, it was his Ecumenical involvements which were his first passion, and these remained with him throughout his life. For Congar, "The disunion of Christians is verily a rending of Christ and a continuance of his passion." (p. 41) In light of the missiological nature of the church in post-christendom western society, I can only agree with Congar that church disunity, both inter-denominationally, and also within denominations, is a scandal with which no genuine believer can be content. Congar writes, "Unbelievers are far more scandalized than we realize by the divisions among Christian. Although, unfortunately, we cannot yet show a united front, when we show that we are moving in that direction and that dissension and misunderstanding among Christians is at an end, then the world listens." (p. 48) For us Pentecostal-charismatic Protestants, with our emphasis on Free Church autonomy and individuality, our situation is even more complicated denominationally as we have implicitly - and sometimes explicitly - promoted a local church praxis at the expense of a cooperative universal ecclesiology. True sacrificial ecumenical work, both institutionally and through local church laity, has to move beyond mere inter-denominationalism. One will find insightful the way Congar balances his tradition and his desire for ecumenism. While still maintaining that the Catholic Church is the ‘Ark of Salvation’, he also understood ecumenism as requiring all to conversion, and all to acknowledge the sins of their denomination.
While an ecclesiologist by specialty, Congar’s Pneumatology was particularly influential. There are two introductory chapters in the book that relate to this: ‘Congar and the Spiritual Life’, and ‘Congar and the Holy Spirit’. I felt that the emphasis on Congar and his Spiritual life was a little more abstract, it outlined a more traditional and pietistic aspect to Congar, and also his versatility. But his Pneumatology proper was, in my opinion, a little neglected, and could have portrayed his unique insights further. This is the case since Congar’s Pneumatology was hugely influential on the Catholic Charismatic Movement, among the most practically ecumenical arms of the Catholic Church, and so this section acts as an important point of ingress for Pentecostals and Charismatics of other traditions into his work.
Congar’s theology of the Laity is also worth highlighting. Considering Pentecostalism’s voluntarist and grass roots beginnings, and the recent Apostolic shift in local church ecclesial structures, I found Congar’s lay theology insightful and timely. The need for a Theology of the Laity and the Priest, invariably implies a theology of the Church, something Congar was well aware of, and qualified to contribute to. Congar was a great champion of the recognition of the Laity, one of his lasting legacies in the outcomes of Vatican II. Congar writes, "We must not posit authority first and in itself, and then say that it is wielded over Christians for spiritual ends, and must be used impartially in a spirit of service. Christianity must be posited first, and then the fact of authority in it…" He goes on to say, quoting Augustine but reversing the order, "We must first lay down the "with you I am a Christian," and then, included in it, "for you I am a bishop.""(p. 68) Congar’s lay theology is most refreshing, and I found myself reacquainting myself with elements of my Pentecostal heritage, though ironically in the writings of a Catholic.
While Congar was far ahead of his time in many aspects, he was loyal to his tradition. On the other hand, one finds that he did not accept the status quo without seeking to develop it, or even to challenge it. He writes, "In the outward forms we have inherited from a venerable past we must be ruthless critics of anything that may on the one hand betray the spirit of the Gospel, and on the other, of anything that may isolate us and set up a barrier between us and men [sic]."(p. 77) He never stopped journeying, and his opinions changed throughout his career. In this he shows incredible maturity, often acknowledging publicly later in life mistakes of his earlier writings. As a theologian who engaged critically with his Church, he maintained incredible love, patience and humility.
Considering that Lakeland had more than 2000 works from which to choose in his compilation, there are always grounds for readers to argue that he did not include the most significant or important passages. Despite this, the wealth of what is accumulated will excite the student or theologian who wishes to acquaint oneself with one of the greats of the contemporary Catholic Church.
As the editor notes:
If I had to look for a twentieth-century theologian to canonize, I wouldn’t look any further than this man, whose proudest accomplishment was that he was a poor Dominican friar, whose role model was Thomas Aquinas. (p. 31)
Andrew Youd.
Alphacrucis College, Sydney
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Notes:
1. In French, Chrétiens désunis 1937, the English translation as published in 1939
2. In French, Tradition et les Traditions (1960), the english translation published in 1966
3. Never translated into English
4. In French, Je crois en L’Esprit Saint (1979-80) and translated in English in 1983.