Ministero episcopale e ministero presbiterale in prospettiva

Abstract

The article outlines perspectives which are useful both for the theology of Orders and for the concrete exercise of priestly and episcopal ministry. In dialogue with the major theologians of the second half of the 20th century (Rahner, Schillebeeckx, Küng, Kehl, Moingt) this study shows how some of the theses proposed in the 70’s have been surpassed by history whereas oth-ers are still pertinent today. The close connection between personal charis-ma, the function of presiding and the Sacrament of Holy Orders in its differ-ent degrees, as is the relationship between the plurality of various ecclesial communities and the plurality of presbyteral identities, show themselves to be the strategic places for a theology which is not disjointed from the living reality of the people involved.