The ecclesiology of Pope Francis in the Evangelii Gaudium: a rescue of the Church as the People of God and its synodal implications in the canon order

Abstract

The ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council establishes, through Lumen Gentium, a perspective based on the notion of the Church as Sacrament. It aims at a rebalancing between the mystical and the institutional dimension of the Church, especially by emphasizing the relational imposture of ecclesial organization. The second notion that becomes the basis of the Council's ecclesiology is the category of People of God, which understands the Church based on the equal dignity of all the baptized, but at the same time valuing the participation and co-responsibility of all the faithful in the ecclesial mission inherited from Christ. Pope Francis with his pontificate aims to implement the conciliar ecclesiology. This project of the Roman Pontiff implies the enhancement of some existing synodal canonical institutions, but also the reform of others. This article aims to study this conciliar ecclesiology and the consequent canonical implications for the proposal of a synodal and missionary Church.