"The Mystery of the Church and the Eucharist in the Light of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity"

This article constitutes the founding document produced by the joint commission of theological dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox, adopted in Munich in 1982. It is a common doctrinal text, the first stage of a programme of ecumenical dialogue initiated in Rhodes. The central idea is that the mystery of the Church and the Eucharist can only be understood in the light of the Trinity: the Church finds its model, its origin and its end in Trinitarian communion, which the Eucharist sacramentally actualises in history. The document articulates Christology, pneumatology and ecclesiology around the Eucharistic celebration, showing how the Holy Spirit builds up the Body of Christ which is the Church. On the theological level, it establishes the foundations of a common Eucharistic ecclesiology, addressing apostolicity, the episcopate, apostolic succession and communion between local Churches.