Ecclesial Problems with "Internal Agreements"

I have begun to think about a talk I will be giving near the time of the Holy Father's visit in September. This invitation has allowed me to reflect on my decision to become a Catholic a little over a year ago now. So much has changed about my thinking this past year that it is difficult to believe how I thought at one time. I guess that is the nature of conversion. Conversion is to change one's direction completely from what it was before.

I believe my time outside of communion with the Mother Church was not much more than seeking "internal agreements" with those I disagreed with about ecclesiology in order to feel as catholic as possible. Theologically, I understood that the Church was formed episcopally, but found myself functioning congregationally while out of unity with Peter. Simply assembling together in the name of Jesus, apart from any communion with the whole Church, could not be the act that institutionalises communio. Looking back now, I see that "functionally," I was living by the notion that the Church is established "from below" and hence any group could refer to themselves as "catholic" because the community established in this way holds the power ("keys") of the Church and hence the right of Eucharistic celebrations. I did not see this very clearly for a long time, but now living in communion this past year with the See of Peter has allowed me to come to terms with my thinking.

There are very serious ecclesial problems with the above way of thinking that some readers may also want to consider about the way we view the petrine ministry. Cardinal Ratzinger said in his book Called to Communion that

This approach [church from below view] inevitably destroys the public nature and all-embracing reconciliatory character of the Church, both of which are represented in the episcopal principle and result from the essence of the Eucharist. The Church becomes a group held together by her internal agreement, whereas her catholic dimension crumbles away. The Lord's word concerning the two or three who gather in his name must not be isolate; it is not a definitive and exhaustive statement of the whole of the Church's reality. The assembly, even the informal togetherness of prayer groups, has an important role in the Church. But as a constitutive principel of the Church, these things are not sufficient.

Something to think about for those outside of communion with Peter.