Dialogue Ad Intra: The Relevance of Lumen Gentium and Christus Dominus for a Synodal Church

Abstract

In order to outline the Council’s understanding of the “dialogue ad intra,” the article will first provide a brief introduction to the concept of dialogue within the Church as set out in selected conciliar documents. To illustrate the Council’s ecclesiological framework for promoting dialogue, an outline of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Ecclesiam suam will follow. As documents such as Lumen gentium and Christus Dominus were the result of compromises between opposing theological factions at the Council, they sometimes offer inconsistent ecclesiological concepts, which affect later understanding of dialogue within the Church. Therefore, the ecclesiological concepts of “apostolicity” and “true equality” of all the baptised will be examined in terms of their implications for ecclesial counselling, decision-making, and accountability procedures. The final passage will present a proposal for resolving the tensions be­tween opposing concepts of dialogue within the Church, in light of the Church’s understanding of itself as a “complex reality.” (LG 8)