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Petrine primacy and synodality (19.05.2023) (17)

Online - Blog Accademia Alfonsiana 
Pope Francis has affirmed that “it is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.” “Synodality is a constitutive dimension of the Church. We cannot be Church without recognizing a real practice of the sensus fidei of all the People of God”.

The Synod of the Amazon invited us to “a pastoral conversion based on synodality”, thus recuperating the etymological meaning of the word “synod,” which means “walking together.” The Church must become more synodal, overcoming clericalism and erroneous conceptions of the principle of authority. This opens a reflection on the model of the Church and on the relationship between the Petrine primacy and synodality.

John Chrysostom had already alluded to the collegial unity of the ecclesial community, expressing it with the phrase: “The Church has as its name synod.” The concept of synodality, in fact, “refers to the involvement and participation of the whole People of God in the life and mission of the Church.”