""The Eastern church developed the doctrine and practice of oikonomia, ?economy?: a superior wisdom that guides bishops and allows them to resolve problems that the laws cannot handle."
Read Meyendorff on the subject - not all the Easterners believe it was a good idea."
Not all Easterners believe reading Meyendorff is a good idea! :)
I'll grant you this, however, +Kasper's idea of how oeconomia works is not at all Orthodox. It is not a carte blanche to bishops to ignore the canons, it is always to be applied on an individual, case by case basis and if there is no consensus among the bishops that a certain type of situation is appropriate for the application of oeconomia, it cannot be applied.
It is interesting that +Kasper's examples of where oeconomia should be applied in light of, "The adamant refusal of Communion to all divorced and remarried persons and the highly restrictive rules for eucharistic hospitality...." are among those areas where oeconomia is not applied (you should note that the Orthodox rules on how to deal with divorce are different from those of Rome, but one cannot simply get divorced, get remarried and show up for communion; similarly, if one is married outside the Church and doesn't get the marriage blessed by the Church, no communion, in fact, no sacraments at all.). The issue of "highly restrictive rules for eucharistic hospitality" was actually taken up by representatives of the Orthodox Churches in the early 1990s. They decided that as there was no consensus on inter communion with Rome (the question of Protestants never came up) by oeconomia, the exercise of oeconomia in that area would be forbidden.
It appears to me that +Kasper is trying to use an Orthodox theological and ecclesiological concept and practice for purposes other than what it was designed for.
"Not all Easterners believe reading Meyendorff is a good idea! :)"
You can say that again! :-)
Seriously, I'd be interested in seeing what is being referred to here from Meyendorff about economia. The Paris school, from which M. came, is very big on economia and on cutting theological corners (by Orthodox standards.)
K's description of what economia does and doesn't mean is right on target. Economia always has to be considered in light of akrevia. This is to say, that when a bishop exercises economia for the sake of an individual soul, he is specifically acknowleging that this is not the way that things are supposed to be done. The bishop is making allowances for human weakness, within bounds considered acceptable by Orthodoxy as a whole.
When Kaspar writes that economia is "a superior wisdom that guides bishops and allows them to resolve problems that the laws cannot handle", this is simply not an accurate description at all. The application of akrevia is always preferable, and akrevia can handle anything. The question is rather whether *we* can handle the demands of akrevia. Economia is an acknowledgement of human weakness, not a "superior wisdom."
As a final note on this, it has been said that even akrevia is an exercise of economia, in the sense that the entire work of salvation by God is an act of great condescension to man. It is only in this sense that economia can be thought of as a "superior wisdom" -- i.e. having the wisdom to see the inner and deep meanings of the practices of akrevia, while keeping the strict practices of akrevia. All of us as Orthodox Christians have encountered someone in our lives who live out a very strict praxis, yet do so in a way that is organic and not at all legalistic. This is true economia in action, by these lights.
What Kaspar seems to be suggesting is that economia means that the rules can be rewritten. Nothing could be farther from the truth in the Orthodox understanding. One stuggles to imagine Kaspar saying to a divorced and remarried Catholic, "it is wrong for you to be divorced and remarried, and wrong for you to commune, but I'm going to allow it in this particular situation because I think it is in the best interest of saving your soul." I would imagine that he would want rather simply to say "it's OK for Catholics to divorce and remarry."
"It appears to me that +Kasper is trying to use an Orthodox theological and ecclesiological concept and practice for purposes other than what it was designed for."
Exactly. He views it precisely as some kind of carte blanche to ride roughshod over the canons, divine revelation, and the natural law. The modernists in our church use the term "being pastoral", but we all know what they mean!!!