EN
This article presents the relationship between the universal and the local church on the basis of the classical tension of two thinking worlds – Platonic and Aristotelian, which in this theme are represented by Ratzinger and Kasper. The first author demonstrates the ontological preference of the universal church in comparison with to the local church. The second debater rather seeks to promote their equal significance. Both of these views, however, are present in the whole history of the theology from the beginning. Therefore, this article is not trying to favour one of them, but to preserve both in the right dialectical tension, where they can complement and correct each other.