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Reflections on the Emerging Theology of Synodality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Jacob Phillips Open the ORCID record for Jacob Phillips [Opens in a new window]
Jacob Phillips*
Affiliation:
St Mary's University Twickenham, Institute of Theology, Twickenham, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

This paper works from the ITC document, Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church (2018), to outline four essential components of an emergent theology of synodality: the claim that synodality is constitutive of the Church, an ecclesiology of communion, the ecclesial title People of God, and the sensus fidei. The paper then critically assesses the interplay of these four elements in the ITC document, along with the Vademecum and the Preparatory Document which were disseminated with the beginning of the synodal process itself (2021). Certain issues from this interplay, it is argued, require further reflection as this emergent theology develops: the theological weight of consensus, the degree to which belonging to the Church is (or is not) essentially discursive in character, how the sensus fidei seems to imply that the practice of the faith is an integral element of meaningful synodal participation by Catholics, and indeed, finally, the participation of those who do not bear the name of Christian.

Keywords

consensusecclesiologyPeople of Godsensus fideisynodality
Type
Original Articles
Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 104 , Issue 1113 , September 2023 , pp. 560 - 572
Copyright
Copyright © 2023 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers

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References

1 St Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, On the Church Militant Diffused Throughout the World, translated by Grant, Ryan, (Post Falls, ID; Mediatrix Press, 2016), p. 9Google Scholar.

2 Avery Cardinal Dulles, Models of the Church, (New York: Doubleday, 2002), p. 117Google Scholar.

3 International Theological Commission ‘Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church’, §49, https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_cti_20140610_sensus-fidei_en.html

4 Ibid.

5 John Henry Newman, , Certain Difficulties Felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching, Volume 1, (New York and Bombay: Longmans, Green, & Co, 1901), p. 281ffGoogle Scholar.

6 Quoted by Pope Benedict XVI, ‘Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Roman Curia Offering them his Christmas Greetings’, 2005. https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2005/december/documents/hf_ben_xvi_spe_20051222_roman-curia.html

7 Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal, On Conscience, (San Francisco; Ignatius Press, 2007)Google Scholar.