Synod 2004 declared that calling the Roman Catholic Mass “a condemnable idolatry,” as we do in Question and Answer 80 of the Heidelberg Catechism, can no longer be part of our confession in its current form.

However, the text in question will remain printed as it is until at least 2006, by which time proposals will have been circulated to Christian Reformed Church congregations and churches with whom the CRC has ecclesiastical fellowship.

The recommendation to withdraw the condemnation came from the denomination’s Interchurch Relations Committee after study of official Roman Catholic teaching and extensive dialogue with official representatives of the Roman Catholic Church. The committee, in its report to synod, concluded, “The Mass, when celebrated in accordance with official Roman Catholic teaching, neither denies the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ nor constitutes idolatry.”

At the same time the committee noted that significant differences remain between Reformed churches and the Roman Catholic Church regarding their understanding of the Eucharist. Catholics believe that the bread and wine become the body and the blood of Jesus in a way that Reformed believers don’t. And, as Calvin Theological Seminary faculty adviser Rev. Mariano Avila pointed out, many Catholics, especially in Latin America, do not make the fine distinctions made by Vatican II when it comes to the Mass.

Q&A 80 did not appear in the first edition of the Heidelberg Catechism of February 1563 but was added a few months later. From then on Reformed believers learned to think of the Roman Catholic Mass as “nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ and a condemnable idolatry.”

Rather than drop the text altogether, the IRC recommended that it be printed in a smaller font with additional footnotes. But not all delegates favored the change. Rev. Kirk MacNeil of Classis Alberta North, a former Roman Catholic altar boy, noted that a disjunction remains between official Catholic teaching and practice.

Because of the many voices raised against the recommendation, delegates opted to slow down the process. Synod decided to submit the Interchurch Relations Report to the Reformed Ecumenical Synod and churches in ecclesiastical or corresponding fellowship with the CRC. As well, all church councils and classes in the CRC will be asked to review the report and submit their responses to the denomination’s general secretary. Synod 2006 will digest all the information and make a final determination about the fate of Q&A 80.

George Vandervelde, a member of the Heidelberg Q&A 80 subcommittee and a professor at the Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto, was a strong voice calling for reconsideration of the Q&A. Afterward he expressed surprise that the CRC, shaped by a separatist and troubled history, was willing to drop the condemnation of the Catholic Mass.

Vandervelde told synod that Archbishop Thomas Collins of Edmonton, Alberta, referred to the committee’s report as “edifying beyond belief.” The archbishop voiced great appreciation for the careful thought and theological work done by the committee to understand the significance of the Eucharist, and for the CRC’s clearly framed doctrinal framework. “This kind of theological discussion is no longer possible with most church communities,” the archbishop added.

Another member of the subcommittee, Rev. Lyle Bierma of Calvin Theological Seminary, wrote in the winter edition of Forum, the seminary’s quarterly publication, that “our Catholic conversation partners have appreciated our efforts to understand their teaching, our loyalty to a doctrinal tradition, our careful use of words, and even parts of our confessional texts. One Catholic bishop was so impressed with the Heidelberg Catechism’s treatment of the Lord’s Prayer that he indicated that, HC 80 notwithstanding, he intended to use that section of the confession in his own church.”