Between Secular Equality and Ecclesiastical Discernment: The Paradigm of Cultural Equality According to the European Union and the Synodal Path in Germany
Grzegorz Chojnacki
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9125-8618
Abstract
Irrespective of the relationship between the paradigm of cultural equality developed in European Union (EU) documents—in particular in the Strategy for LGBTIQ Equality 2020–2025—and the religious normativity of the Catholic Church, this article analyzes this issue using the example of the documents of the Synodal Path in Germany (SW 3, SW 7, SW 12, and SW 14). The key research question concerns whether and in what way contemporary equality policies influence the reinterpretation of moral norms in Catholic theology, especially in the area of sexual ethics and theological anthropology. The structure of the article involves four main issues: an explanation of two normative orders—religious and cultural-political; the discourse concerning the equality paradigm in EU documents, taking into account its anthropological assumptions and normative language; an in-depth explication of the Synodal Path documents as a process of reinterpretation of moral norms; and synthetic conclusions regarding the mutual relations and tensions between these orders. The applied methodology is qualitative and interdisciplinary in nature: it includes source text analysis, theological hermeneutics, as well as elements of philosophical and sociological analysis. The key research tool is the hermeneutics of reinterpretation, which allows for capturing the dynamics of normative changes. The main conclusion drawn from the research indicates that the Synodal Path constitutes an example of the transformation of moral norms through a transition from a normativity based on natural law toward a relational and personalistic model. This process is significantly, albeit indirectly, influenced by the EU equality paradigm, leading to tension between doctrinal continuity and its reinterpretation in the context of contemporary culture, pointing to the need for an evaluation of the ongoing changes in the understanding of ecclesiological issues.
Keywords:
Synodal Path (Der Synodale Weg), religious normativity, European Union cultural equality, sexual ethics, reinterpretation of doctrineReferences
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The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Grzegorz Chojnacki is a Polish Roman Catholic clergyman, habilitated doctor of theological sciences, and a research staff member at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. He is a member of the Science Evaluation Commission at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland, an expert for the Vatican Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties (AVEPRO), and an expert for the Polish Accreditation Committee. He is also a member of the Polish Theological Society and the Association of Moral Theologians, as well as a member of the scientific boards of the journals “Studia Oecumenica,” “Teologia i Moralność,” and “Studia Paradyskie.” He is the author of numerous publications (selected): Sumienie w świetle prawdy. Komparatywna analiza koncepcji sumienia w encyklice „Veritatis splendor” i Corpus Paulinum (Poznań 2003); Od społeczeństwa „widzów” do społeczeństwa obywateli. Chrześcijańskie podstawy budowania społeczeństwa obywatelskiego (Poznań 2010); Relacyjność osoby ludzkiej. Studium antropologiczno-teologiczne pism Edyty Stein (Teresy Benedykty od Krzyża) (Poznań 2015).
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