Apostolicity and historic succession, PCS’s main endeavour is to describe the background of the arguments in question. This leads to the insight that both are not separate motives but have a function within a wider range of theological argumentation. Once one accepts this point, it is possible to understand Apostolicity as a quality of the Church as a whole and to interpret the historic succession as a sign of the Church’s endeavour to be faithful to its apostolic character. PCS is thus an investigation into how a motive under debate is connected to other motives. This is its main difference in comparison to the two other documents under discussion in this chapter. The methodological principle could be extremely helpful when it comes to ecumenical dialogues that concern themselves with topics such as the veneration of the Virgin Mary or with the saints as intercessors before God. From a Protestant perspective there simply is no room for that kind of plea for intercessory prayer. But as soon as one begins to look for the various ways, motives like these are linked to others, matters may change. The veneration of the Virgin as performed in the Roman Catholic tradition, for example, is closely connected to basic assumptions in christology. More specifically, it is connected to the notion that Christ is primarily regarded the eschatological judge with the result that His role as a consoler becomes subsequently less important. That function is accomplished through the notion that the Virgin stands for God’s consoling presence. Of course, Protestants will not address veneration to Mary, but their understanding of what their fellow Catholic Christians do is likely to increase.
Admittedly, this is just an example and the issue surely needs closer inspection (see chapter 5 for a detailed discussion). For the time being, it should simply illustrate how we could utilize the major achievement of the Porvoo Common Statement as a model for ongoing ecumenical endeavours. In the next chapter we will turn to a field of problems in which insight such as this will greatly be needed.
