Perspectief 2014-25

2014-25 Theological reflection 29 Reageer communio to represent best the council’s ecclesiology. 1 This concept of communion is the core of the Church’s self understanding and its basis for participation in the ecumenical movement. Koch shows that “the point of departure for all communio is the encounter with Jesus Christ as the Son of God become flesh. In this encounter, communion also emerges between human beings, grounded in the communion with the Triune God. Both meanings of communio receive their clearest expression and realisation at the same time in the celebration of the eucharist.” 2 Already in this statement a double principle concerning Eucharist and communion becomes clear. On the one hand, celebrating the Eucharist is an expression of communion. On the other, it is the realization of this communion. There is a tension in this double principle. One can ask the question if there is a chronological primacy of the one over the other. This is not an easy question to answer. With the help of Paul’s identification of the expression “body of Christ” 3 with both the Eucharistic bread and the Church, Koch states that “the building of the church occurs through the eucharist, and the unity of the many faithful in the one church comes from the one eucharistic bread and thus from the one Christ: because Christ is one, the eucharistic bread is also only one; and because the faithful partake of communion with the one Christ through this one bread, the church too can only be one.” 4 Thus, ontologically there is in fact only one Church , despite its visible division. Within Catholic ecclesiology the one Church is represented by the concept of the universal Church, in which the distinctive local Churches are united: “each local church that celebrates the eucharist is wholly church, but no local church is the whole church.” 5 But schisms like the Great Schism and the Reformation have broken the visible unity of local Churches. Ecclesial structures and liturgical life are no longer shared. The concept of the universal 1 Koch, Kurt, ‘The Relation between the Eucharist and Ecclesial Communion: An Ecumenical View’ (lecture at the IEC 2012, IEC 2012 website: http://www.iec2012.ie/media/1SymposiumKoch1.pdf : 8 june 2012) [6 june 2014], 1. 2 Koch, ‘The Relation’, 1. 3 1 Cor 10:16, cf. Koch, ‘The Relation’, 5-6. 4 Koch, ‘The Relation’, 3. 5 Koch, ‘The Relation’, 8 [italics by Koch].