The Hermeneutic of Reform according to Joseph Ratzinger (trans. D. Chabrajska)

Tracey ROWLAND

John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family, 278 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne VIC, 3002, Australia , Australia

Dorota CHABRAJSKA

John Paul II Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland , Poland

Abstract

Whereas Concilium authors such as Edward Schillebeeckx, OP, and Karl Rahner, SJ, tended to approach the documents of the Council with what Ratzinger called a “hermeneutic of rupture,” making every pre-Conciliar belief and practice questionable, the Communio authors such as Joseph Ratzinger, Henri de Lubac, SJ, and Hans Urs von Balthasar offered a “hermeneutic of reform.” In his Christmas Address to members of the Roman Curia in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI made explicit reference to the concept of a “hermeneutic of reform” to describe his preferred approach to interpreting the documents of the Second Vatican Council. A key feature of his hermeneutic (consistent with the approach of Blessed John Paul II) is a strong Trinitarian Christocentrism or tendency to read the Conciliar documents with a Christocentric accent. This is especially so of the most highly debated document of the Council, Gaudium et Spes.

Keywords:

Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict XVI, Concilium, Communio, hermeneutic of reform, hermeneutic of rupture, Gaudium et Spes