One of the most important practical suggestions resulting from ecclesiological deduction of the pastoral theology was the suggestion of a shift from pastoral ministry to evangelization, which Blachnicki called ”a Copernican revolution”. The process of realization of the Church starts with evangelization, which initiates liberating processes in both individuals and entire communities. The next stage of the process is introduction – through a catechumenal formation – to living in the ecclesiastical community. Therefore, for Fr. Blachnicki the principal conclusion drawn from the fact that the Church realizes itself in specific communities is a postulate that the entire pastoral ministry should be reshaped to serve the formation of basic communities of Christian life within the parish. Hence it is necessary to implement the introduction of a model of the communal parish. A dilemma that emerges from this context is how to introduce a post-conciliar model of the parish, if it is impossible to build a living community of the Church without mature ecclesial communities. To solve this dilemma, the founder of Light-Life Movement pointed to the role and opportunity offered by movements based on comprehensive and catechumenal formation within the contemporary Church.
Synodality is one of the elements of the identity of ecclesial communities and thus of the whole Church. Pope Francis sees synodality as a challenge to the Church in the third Christian millennium. The culmination of his concern for the renewal of synodality in the Church is the convened XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, whose theme is: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission”. The Synod was inaugurated in Rome on 9-10 October 2021. Synodality, however, is not a new phenomenon. From the very beginning of the Church, it has been essential for her life, for decision-taking and decision-making (Acts: 15). One of the basic forms of synods is diocesan synods. One of them is the Third Post-War Synod of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, which took place in the years 1995-2000. The aim of this study is to show the timeliness of the reflections of the Synod of Gniezno in relation to the problem of renewal of contemporary parishes. The article consists of three parts: (1) the presentation of the synod, (2) the synodal theology of the parish, (3) the model of parish renewal. The teaching of the Synod has been compared with the contemporary teaching of the Church. This comparison confirmed the thesis about the topicality of the reflections of the Gniezno Synod.
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