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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
The aim of this paper is to appreciate more deeply the ecclesiological and missiological perspectives of synodality and thus to suggest that synodality is not something new or created as the whim of Pope Francis but that it is rooted in the Church's ecclesiology from its earliest times and as such finds an expression in the Church's life and mission. In this paper I will demonstrate that the Church has always been a synodal Church and what we are witnessing now is a valid theological development which takes us into the third millennium. I wish to set my examination of synodality in its ecclesiological and missiological perspectives and thereby posit that these two branches or routes lead into the one synodal pathway. I will show that as we examine the ecclesiological perspective of synodality we shall see that it is set in a renewed sense of mission. For this, we will need to co-operate with God and each other, as Pope Francis hinted at in 2015.
1 Pope Francis, Ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops, 17 October 2105.
2 Acts 15:7.
3 Luke 24:13-35.
4 Paul VI, Encyclical letter on the Church Ecclesiam Suam, [hereafter ES] 6 August 1964: AAS 56 (1964), 609-659. 3.
5 ES 41.
6 ES 81.
7 ES 116.
8 Vitali, Dario, Popolo di Dio. (Assisi, Cittadella Editrice, 2018), p.119ffGoogle Scholar.
9 Ibid., 27.
10 Vitali, Dario, Lumen Gentium: storia, commento, recezione, (Roma: Edizioni Studium, 2012), p.58ffGoogle Scholar.
11 LG 10.
12 Ibid.
13 Paul VI, Motu Proprio establishing the Synod of Bishops for the Universal Church Apostolica Sollicitudo [hereafter AAS] 15 September 1965: AAS 57 (1965), 3.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid. Speaking of the setting up of the document.
16 Peter Hebblethwaite, John XXIII Pope of the Council. Here I follow the three basic strands of Hebblewaite which are found on page 13 where he offers a concise guide to the setting up and furtherance of the Synod of Bishops.
17 CIC 343.
18 Vitali, Dario, Verso la Sinodalità. (Magnano: Edizioni Qiqajon, 2014), p. 88ffGoogle Scholar. Vitali suggests that it is only the bishop in his Church who can represent the ‘sensus fidelium’ of the people under his care to the other bishops acting in a collegial way, whether that be in ecumenical council or in other manifestations of synodality.
19 O'Riordan, Sean, ‘The Synod of Bishops: A Theological Event’, The Furrow 18 no 10 (October 1967), 565-572Google Scholar. Accessed 15 October 2019.
20 2015 speech.
21 Ibid.
22 Ibid
23 Ibid.
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