Come, Holy Spirit--Renew the Whole Creation: Theological Issues Arising at the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of Churches

T HE SEVENTH ASSEMBLY of the World Council of Churches which met in February 1991 in Canberra was an important ecclesial event. I was privileged to be present as an accredited visitor, a position which enabled me to participate in many of the Assembly's activities without the responsibilities of those who were delegates or official Catholic observers. My interest focused on the theological issues which were addressed by the Assembly, or which were implicit in the Assembly's deliberations and decisions. The theme of the Assembly was expressed in the form of a prayer: 'Come, Holy Spirit--renew the whole creation'. As Krister Steffdahl pointed out in his pre-assembly reflections, prayer is the language most authentic to the Church for it invites us to become co-creators with God in Christ. 1 It was in prayer that the various threads of the Assembly, some of them contradictory, came together. Lex orandi, lex credendi. While some participants lamented the lack of theology at the Assembly, I found the total experience pregnant with deep theological implications which need to be explicated. Many theological questions surfaced which should be addresed not only by the WCC but by all the churches; for example: What is the role of culture within Christianity? If we acknowledge that western culture should not be normative for the rest of the world, what criteria are used to judge which aspects of any culture are compatible with Christian faith? Who makes these decisions? Is the concern for justice, peace and the integrity of creation a theological issue or does it belong primarily to the political and social agenda? What is the theological and ecclesiological significance of the actions which the WC C has undertaken to combat racism and sexism? Such questions point to deeper theological questions about our understanding of God, Christ and the Spirit, our perception of humankind and its relationship to the rest of creation, and our ecclesiology. Among the many different theological threads which were woven throughout the Assembly I will consider five: the nature of theology itself, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the unity of the Church as koinonia, commitment to justice, peace and the integrity of creation, and emerging spiritualities. Beneath all of these issues lies the question of the relationship between Christian faith and culture. I will conclude with some reflections on Catholic participation in the Assembly.