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Vol. 24 (2025)

Scientific articles

The Icon of Unity: The Ecclesiology of Communion in the Catechetical Teaching of the Eastern and Western Churches

Published: 2026-03-12

Abstract

The article explores the ecclesiology of communion (communio) in a comparative perspective between the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, emphasizing its significance for contemporary catechetical formation. The study begins with the hermeneutics of communio as participation in the Trinitarian life and as the essential form of the Church’s existence. The first part analyzes the development of communion ecclesiology in the Catholic Church – from Lumen gentium through Communionis notio to Ut unum sint – in dialogue with the Eucharistic theology of H. de Lubac, J. Ratzinger, and P. McPartlan. The second part presents the Orthodox theology of sobornost’ and Eucharistic ecclesiology in the works of N. Afanasiev, J. D. Zizioulas, and D. Stăniloae, interpreted in the light of the Ravenna (2007) and Chieti (2016) documents of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue. The comparative analysis identifies a shared theological foundation: the Church as an “icon of the Trinity”, where unity and diversity coexist in the Holy Spirit. In its applicative dimension, the article formulates catechetical conclusions: catechesis, grounded in the ecclesiology of communion, must be mystagogi­cal, ecumenical, and communal, leading to an experiential understanding of the Church as an “icon of unity”. Thus, the theology of communion – lived in the dialogue between East and West – emerges as a hermeneutical key for contemporary ecclesial catechesis.

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