Folia Theologica et Canonica 10. 32/24 (2021)
Ius canonicum
FOLIA THEOLOGICA ET CANONICA (2021) 61-70 Péter Erdő SYNODALITY AS A FORM OF THEOCRACY IN THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH* I. The problem; II. Synodality and the workings of the Holy Spirit, 1. The concept of synodality, 2. Synodality as the “sensus fidei fidelium ” or the means of understanding the “consensus totius Ecclesiae ”, 3. Vox populi, vox Dei?; Conclusion Keywords: absolute monarchy, theocratic monarchy, Vicar of Christ, College of Bishops, episcopal collegiality, sinodality, Cicero, Nicolaus Cusanus, Pope Francis I. The problem In the modem era, but outside the ecclesiastical, theological context, it was and still is customary in wider circles to speak of the Catholic Church, the Apostolic See or even the Papal States, or today the Vatican City State, as an absolute monarchy with regards to its form of government. That the concept of the form of government is slightly less applicable to the Church itself, we hope will be clear from what follows. For this term was used to denote a form of state mied by a monarch, in which the power of the head of state (the monarch) is not limited by ‘written laws, legislations or customs’1. Wikipedia - although not a source of scientific knowledge yet it is rightly regarded as an expression of and an influence on public opinion - also mentions the Vatican as one of the current absolute monarchies during the years of the 2010s, alongside Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Eswatini (formerly named: Swaziland), Qatar and Oman* 1 2. Regarding the Vatican it notes that it is an ‘ecclesiastical and elective theocracy’3. According to the Hungarian Catholic Encyclopedia, which applies the term only to the transitional forms of government that emerged between the 16th and * It was presented originally in Hungarian at the Annual Conference of Theological Teachers in Budapest, organized by the Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Faculty of Theology (January 19th 2022). 1 Harris, N., Systems of Government Monarchy, (consulted: November 10,h 2020); see https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_Monarchy#Notes (consulted: January 17,h 2022). 2 Ibid. 3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City (consulted: February 6th 2022).
