Participation of the laity in the synodality of the Church. The development of teaching from the Second Vatican Council to Pope Francis

Abstract

The aim of this article is to show the role of the laity in the synodality of the Church from Vatican II to Pope Francis. The ecclesiology of communio initiated by Vaticanum II resulted in a renewal of synodality in the life and mission of the Church. In the historical and theological section, the dependence of the theology of the laity on ecclesiology was pointed out. It was not until the renewal of ecclesiology, which took place at the end of the 19th century, that a breakthrough was made with a new vision of the role of the laity in the Church. This initiated a multi-stage process, the final link of which is the synodal vision of the Church promoted by Pope Francis. In the systematic section, three basic aspects of the synodality of the Church are presented: (1) the theological aspect (synodality as a constitutive dimension of the Church), (2) the pastoral aspect (synodality as a mechanism for the functioning of the Church), (3) the institutional-legal aspect (forms of implementation of synodality). All of them refer to the Church as the People of God and therefore include all the baptised, both clergy and laity.