On the same day on which the Vatican document “Responses to Some Questions regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church” was published, the President of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Kurt Koch drew up an “Introduction” that is available on the website of the Bishops’ Conference www.sbk-ces.ch. The document – says a statement – was written to “permit a better understanding” of the new document of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Bishop Koch explains to his readers that “the greatest current difficulty of ecumenical dialogue consists in the disparity of views about the understanding of the Church”. On the one hand the communities born from the Reformation see themselves as part of the one Church of Jesus Christ under differentiated forms. On the other, the Catholic Church affirms that she is not just part of the Church of Christ but that “in her, this one Church is concretely realized”. It is clear therefore that neither the Communities born from the Reformation nor the Catholic Church are able today to recognize their respective doctrine on the Church. But, according to the French Bishops’ Conference, this does not mean that it is impossible to continue dialogue, but, on the contrary, that “today we can continue along the path of ecumenism and encourage dialogue on these very different theological views of the Church”.
