UNITY AND DIVERSITY IN THE CHURCH A THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON TEACHING AUTHORITY IN THE EAST

This study of the practice of teaching authority in the East is limited to the Antiochian model which dates back to apostolic times and which represents in some fashion the eastern model in all its expressions. The authority of teaching expresses itself in the Eucharistic synaxis where the assembled People of God is presided over by his bishop surrounded by his ministers. This synodal form is also an effort of convergence from diversity to unity. Regional synodality is considered as an enlargement of the catholicity of the particular Church under the same conditions. It gave birth to the patriarchate, a privileged and characteristic structure of communion in the East. Finally, the author presents the current exercise of authority in the Eastern Churches according to the different forms of synodality, especially within the framework of the ecumenical movement and the search for unity in diversity.