• Infographic Style

LETTER TO THE
BISHOPS OF THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH ON
SOME ASPECTS OF
THE CHURCH
UNDERSTOOD AS Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith
COMMUNION
28 May 1992
 01
The Church, A Mystery of
Communion

02
Universal Church and Particular
Church

Contents 03
Communion of the Churches,
Eucharist and Episcopacy

04
Unity and Diversity in Ecclesial
Communion

05
Ecclesial Communion and
Ecumenism
00
Introduction
 The concept of
‘communion’ is a
very suitable
term to express
the core of the
Church. It is also
the key for the
renewal of
Catholic
ecclesiology.
01

The Church, A Mystery

of Communion
 The concept of communion lies at
the heart of the Church’s self-
understanding, which is the mystery of
personal union of each human being
with the divine Trinity and with the rest
of mankind. It is directed towards its
eschatological fulfillment in the
heavenly Church. It is also understood
as a gift from God; a fruit of God’s
initiative carried out in the pascal
mystery, which provides for a new
relationship among human beings.
Church is the sacrament of salvation, because ecclesial communion is at the same time
both invisible and visible. As an invisible reality, it is the communion of each human with
Divine Trinity and the fellow sharers in the divine nature, in the passion of Christ, in the
same faith and in the same spirit. From this sacramentality, it follows that the Church is not
a reality closed in on herself; rather, she is permanently open to missionary and ecumenical
endeavor, for she is sent to the world to announce and witness, to make present and spread
the mystery of communion which is essential to her; to gather together all people and all
things into Christ; so as to be for all an inseparable sacrament of unity.
Ecclesial communion, into which each individual is introduced by faith and by baptism has
its root and center in the Blessed Eucharist, for, the Eucharist is the creative force and
source of communion among the members of the Church. Hence, the Pauline expression
the Church is the Body of Christ means that the Eucharist in which the Lord gives us His
Body and transforms us into Body, is where the Church expresses herself permanently in
most essential form.

In its invisible elements, this communion

exists not only among the members of the
pilgrim Church on earth, but also
between those passed from this world in
the grace of the Lord and those who will
be incorporated into it after having been
fully purified. It corresponds profoundly
to the reality of the Church as a mystery
of communion.
02

Universal Church &

Particular Church
 The Church of Christ, the world wide
community of the disciples of the Lord is
characterized with diversity of persons,
groups, times and places. Those entities
are themselves Churches. Although they
are particular, the universal Church
becomes present in them with all its
essential elements. They are, therefore,
constituted after the model of the
universal Church and each of them is a
portion of the People of God entrusted to
a bishop to be guided by him with the
assistance of his clergy.
The universal Church is the Body of Churches;
it is communion of Churches. Thus, ecclesial
unilateralism like, every particular Church is a
subject complete in itself and universal Church
is the result of the reciprocal recognition on the
part of the particular Churches betrays an
insufficient understanding of the concept of
communion. An analogical application of the
term communion to particular churches, would
say that a particular church is a part of the one
Church of Christ. It has special relationship of
mutual interiority with the whole. For this
reason, universal Church cannot be conceived
as the sum of the particular Churches, or as a
federation of particular Churches, rather in its
essential mystery, universal Church is a reality,
ontologically and temporally prior to every
individual particular Church.
The Church is one and unique and gives
birth to the particular Churches as her
daughters; she expresses herself in them;
she is the mother and not product of the
particular Churches. Hence, the formula
of the Second Vatican Council: The
Church in and formed out of the
Churches, is inseparable from the
formula, the Churches in and formed out
of the Church.
03
Communion of the
Churches, Eucharist &
Episcopacy
Unity or communion between particular Churches in the
universal Church, is rooted not only in the same faith and in the
common baptism, but above all in the Eucharist and in the
episcopate.

The eucharistic ecclesiology asserts that, when the eucharistic

sacrifice is performed in a particular community, it is never a
celebration of that community alone, rather it receives the
entire gift of salvation and shows that it is the image and true
presence of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. When
the Eucharist is celebrated, the totality of the mystery of the
Church is made present there.
Unity of the Church is also rooted in the unity of the Episcopate
and unity of the Episcopate is understood as the unity of the
entire Church. The Roman Pontiff, as the successor of Peter is a
perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity. This
unity is perpetuated through the centuries by means of the
apostolic succession and is also the foundation of the identity of
the Church of every age.
The bishop is a visible source and foundation of the unity of the
particular Church. But for each particular Church to be fully
Church, there must be present in it, as a proper element, the
supreme authority of the Church: The Episcopal College
together with their head, the Supreme Pontiff, and never apart
from him. The unity of the Eucharist and the unity of the
Episcopate with Peter and under Peter are not independent roots
of the unity of the Church, since Christ instituted the Eucharist
and the Episcopate as essentially interlinked realities.
04
Unity & Diversity in
Ecclesial Communion
The universality of the Church
involves, both the unity and plurality,
which is expressed through
diversification in ministries, charisms and
forms of apostolate. Fostering the unity
does not obstruct diversity, but fosters
diversification, which is a fundamental
task of the Roman Pontiff for the whole
Church and of the bishops in particular
Churches and of everyone in the Church,
because all are called to build it up and
preserve it each day.
05
Ecclesial Communion
& Ecumenism
The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the
baptized, but who do not however profess the Catholic faith in its
entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the
successor of Peter. In them, we still find many elements of the
Church of Christ, which allow us, with joy and hope, to
acknowledge the existence of a certain communion. This
communion exists especially with the Eastern Orthodox
Churches, which, though separated from the See of Peter, remain
united to the Catholic Church by means of very close bonds, such
as the apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, and therefore
merit the title of particular Churches. However, their exitance as a
particular Church is wounded. This wound is ever deeper in those
ecclesial communities which have not retained the apostolic
succession and a valid Eucharist.
This situation seriously calls for ecumenical commitment of the
part of everyone, with a view to achieving full communion in the
unity of the Church; that unity which Christ bestowed on his
Church from the beginning. This unity subsists in the Catholic
Church as something she can never lose, and we hope it will
continue to increase until the end of time. The Blessed Virgin
Mary is the model of ecclesial communion. She is eternally
present in the mystery of Christ as she was present in the midst of
the Apostles at the birth of the Church.
 Conclusion
The Concept of communion is an all encompassing
idea to denote the very core of the Church. It is both
visibly and invisibly expressed in the mystery of the
Church. It is well articulated in the concept of Church
as the body of Christ. This unity is seen in every
aspects of the Church, like sacraments, the relationship
between Universal Church and the Particular church,
episcopacy, ecumenical movements etc.
THANK YOU