The ecclesiology of Saint Cyprian of Carthage

This article by Father Amphiloque Miltos focuses on the ecclesiology of Saint Cyprian of Carthage, considered in the context of the Catholic-Orthodox theological dialogue on synodality and primacy. The study adopts a critical and historico-theological approach, proceeding to a systematic reassessment of the reading that theologian Nicolas Afanassieff proposed of Cyprian. The main idea is that the opposition between eucharistic ecclesiology and universal ecclesiology, which the pioneer of eucharistic ecclesiology projected onto the Bishop of Carthage, constitutes an anachronism and a false dilemma. Drawing on the works of Bévenot and Demoustier, the author shows that Cyprianic episcopal collegiality rests on a unity in identity, and not on a part-whole relationship. The theological contribution of the article is to draw from the common patristic tradition a conception of episcopal synodality capable of transcending the ecclesiological oppositions that still separate Catholics and Orthodox.