The eucharistic Church, an ecclesial Eucharist

This article by Father Michael Plekon examines the constitutive relationship between the Church and the Eucharist, drawing on a theological and historical approach. Starting from the liturgical renewal of the second half of the twentieth century, the author traces the rediscovery of the Eucharist as an ecclesial act and of the Church as a eucharistic reality, while offering a critical assessment of the persistent resistance to this vision. The central idea is that the Eucharist constitutes the privileged, indeed unique, path for restoring communion among divided Christian Churches. Drawing primarily on the thought of Sergius Bulgakov and Nicolas Afanassieff, Plekon argues that unity in faith, already substantially achieved through the Nicene Creed, prayer, and the sacraments, finds its fullness in common eucharistic sharing. The theological contribution of the article lies in its ecumenical rereading of Orthodox eucharistic ecclesiology, proposing the Eucharist not as the endpoint of a process of unification, but as its true driving force.