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La priorità della Chiesa universale sulla Chiesa particolare

Summary: The question about the priority between the universal Church and the particular Church has aroused considerable interest in postconciliar ecclesiology. Some authors have stressed the priority of the universal Church, others of the particular Church, and still others of both simultaneously. Catholic Magisterium has produced two documents concerning this question: “Communionis Notio” (1992) and “Apostolos suos” (1998). The present article reviews several reactions to the Magisterial documents, in order to overcome the misunderstandings arisen on the reception of “Communionis notio”. The author also offers some reflections on the ontological priority between the two dimensions of the Church in its historical fase.