Issues of the journal that are published as of 2024 are available for purchase from Àncora Editrice (in print or digital format).
Volume: 2026 - Issue: 1
Synodality in an ecumenical perspective
The article is a complement to the article by the same author, «The Functioning of the Organs of Governance in a Missionary and Synodal Church», Periodica 114 (2025) 227-258, as it is a presentation of the same Final Document of the XVI General Assembly of the Synod of the Bishops, read in an ecumenical perspective (particularly in relation to the Orthodox Churches). It takes into consideration canon 34 of Canons of Apostles and various Councils of the first centuries relative to the relationship between the one who was considered the "πρῶτος" and the other bishops at the level of an ecclesiastical province, as well as the position of the Bishop of Rome within the “pentarchy” as the foundation of an organization of the Church in the eventual re-establishment of full communion, preserving what is required by divine right, but revising its concrete implementation.
Keywords: synodality; primacy; divine law; ecclesial discernment.
Vigilance over the Proper Administration of Justice. I. The Diocesan Bishop
The article focuses in particular on the tools available to the diocesan bishop to learn about and intervene in his own tribunal in order to exercise a supervisory role, both in terms of procedure and jurisprudence. The article also specifies who does not have supervisory authority, so as to preserve the freedom of the bishop and independence in the exercise of his duties.
Keywords: Diocesan bishop; tribunal; supervision; Apostolic Signatura.
The Identity of Ecclesial Synodality in the Teaching of the Final Document of the Synod of Bishops 2023-2024
The Synod of Bishops of 2023 and 2024 concluded with a Final Document, which today represents the Church’s most authoritative teaching on ecclesial synodality, not least because Pope Francis described it as his ordinary magisterium. The author aims to draw from the Final Document the identity of ecclesial synodality. This reality consists specifically in an activity carried out by pastors and faithful in the structures of synodality and is organized around gathering together, dialogue, discernment, and deciding for the good of the Church. The author emphasizes (following the indications of the authoritative text) that in synodal activity, pastors and faithful, because of the capacity received in Baptism, have the possibility of hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit as happened in the Council of Jerusalem. The activity of ecclesial synodality is therefore to be considered a sacred or liturgical action. The author concludes by proposing a modification of can. 212 §3.
Keywords: ecclesial synodality; gathering together; dialogue; discernment; decision-making; listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit; sacred or liturgical action.