The developing understanding of authority and primacy in Anglican–Roman Catholic–Old Catholic dialogue after the Second Vatican Council

Abstract

This article explores the way in which Anglican–Old Catholic consultations after the Second Vatican Council addressed the questions of authority and primacy in the Church. It argues, first, that in the context of their dialogues with each other and with the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicans and Old Catholics have developed a positive understanding of the role of authority and (universal) primacy in the Church. Second, Anglicans are more willing to think of the implementation of a kind of universal primacy than Old Catholics. Third, the question of primacy is, in the dialogues discussed in this article, seen in union with synodality at all levels of ecclesial communion. Fourth, the value attributed to universal primacy has pushed the (Old Catholic) protest against Pastor Aeternus into the background. Fifth, given the agreement on the value of universal primacy, the question not of whether, but rather of how a universal primacy could be received by the Church is legitimate.