Panel: RECEIVING SYNODALITY IN GLOBAL CATHOLICISM



272.5 - SECOND VATICAN'S TRAJECTORIES FOR ECUMENICAL SYNODALITY

AUTHORS:
Klug F. (Philipps-Universität Marburg ~ Marburg ~ Germany)
Text:
In its orientation towards eschatological completion, Vat II refrains from identifying the current state of the Catholic Church with the ecclesia Iesu Christi. The current Catholic Church is seen as a subsisting form of the latter. To illustrate the eschatological orientation of the Church, Vat II refers to the image of the people of God as a pilgrim within salvation history. This pilgrimage is a shared enterprise that does not matter only to the Catholic Church since she is not the only form of a being a Church in the current time. In its endeavor to promote ecumenism, Vat II refers to non-Catholic Churches as separated brothers, sharing brotherly love. Hence, the Catholic Church is not solely the people of God; the non-Catholic Churches share the same fate of pilgrimage towards the heavenly Jerusalem and hope to grow together in unity on that path. This path forward in a shared endeavor differs fundamentally from previous understandings of the relationship of the Catholic Church with non-Catholic groups, by advising them simply to return to the Catholic Church, as a perspective focused on the past. For that reason, we must keep in mind that when the synod on synodality refers to the people of God, as the main image to illustrate the Church: Synodality as a matter of catholicity does not solely concern the Catholic Church in a denominational sense. Instead, synodality is a matter of catholicity whereby it can be a path and means for the Catholic Church to go further steps towards an ecumenical unity. It becomes obvious when considering the mere etymology of synodality (σύνοδος), sharing a path. Hence, the ecumenical matter needs to be a guiding concern for developing the theological understanding of synodality within the Catholic Church. This paper wants to elaborate on the ecumenical dimension of Catholic synodality.