A sinodalidade como pressuposto da relação episcopado-papado a serviço do povo de Deus: história, desafios e perspectivas à luz do pontificado do Papa Francisco

Abstract

This text aims to examine the theme of synodality as a sine qua non condition for the proper articulation in relations between the episcopate and the papacy, which, in practice, because they are ministries, are at the service of the People of God. The initial premise is to recover the origins of the Church to verify how the first communities were constituted and, at the same time, how they could illuminate the ecclesial dynamics today. In fact, the hypothesis is that the synodal modus was lost over the centuries due to the more clerical configuration that the Church assumed in the face of the challenges that were presented to it and, naturally, the more apologetic than dialogical stance. Through bibliographical research and, in the process, mentioning concrete examples, the text presents the figure of Pope Francis, the first bishop of Rome after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) who was not present at the conciliar assembly, as someone who truly believes in a synodal Church as a breath of the Spirit in our time, whose apex occurred in the synod on synodality (2021-2024). Behind the research, also aiming at the articulation between the people and the clergy, the reference is the human person, constituted of body, soul and spirit: in the case of the Church, respectively, synodality, collegiality and primacy