Patriarch Sviatoslav :“Matters of faith and morals cannot be decentralized”
Matters of faith and morals cannot be decentralized. Each individual church community in every particular country cannot have their own separate faith or their separate morality. This belief was expressed by the Father and Head of the UGCC, Patriarch Sviatoslav in his interview to Vatican Radio, as he commented on Pope Francis’ words on decentralization in the Church.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav explained that when the Pope talked about decentralization, he implied the need to develop synodality in the Church. “The Holy Father clarified what Synodality of the Church means. He said that the Pope is not above the Church, the Church is the people of God. Speaking about himself, he said: I am baptized among the baptized, I am a bishop among the bishops, I am the successor of the Apostle Peter, the Bishop of Rome –of the church, which presides over all Churches in love. I think it is very interesting image drawn by the Holy Father. And speaking of the need for such decentralization was trying to emphasize the great responsibility of local bishops and bishops' conferences of local church for the life in a particular country,” the Primate said.
According to him, when we refer to decentralization in the Church, we should speak about the healthy decentralization. According to the head of the UGCC, there are some principles that are not subject to the issue of decentralization.
"First, he said, “faith and morals cannot be subject to the decentralization. Matters of faith and morals cannot be decentralized. Each individual church community in a particular country cannot have their own separate faith or their separate morality. The sign of catholicity of the Church is that around the world it still teaches the same things, fulfills God's commandments and celebrates the Holy Sacraments in the same way. If these were decentralized, the Church would lose its very specific sign of its catholicity. There may have been some misunderstanding, even in the secular media, because the issue of decentralization was set forth in the context of the Pontifical Synod of the Church's teaching on marriage and the family ...”
The Primate believes there are two aspects of church life, to be preserved for the whole Church. This is the issue of the liturgy, particularly in the case of the Latin Church. Similarly, when it comes to church legislation, which basically should be the same for the whole Church, except that certain countries may have their own local traditions –it is what we call particular law.
"So, I think, a step towards decentralization should be, first of all the step of the Holy Father and the Apostolic capital to the fullness of life of the Eastern Catholic Churches. And I hope that this Synodal way will be interesting and useful for the Catholic Church,” the patriarch concluded.
