Navigating the Post-Conciliar Church – The Catholic Thing

Hans Feichtinger, First Things

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

The liturgy wars that have emerged post-Vatican II are as lamentable as they are understandable, and the post-conciliar debate about “Church as communion” vs. “Church as perpetual council” (as in, a “conciliar Church”) is also illuminating in this regard. It is a debate about the role and mission of the Church. Today’s emphasis on a “synodal Church” needs to be grounded in a eucharistic ecclesiology, so that synodal concepts and conversations are rooted in the sacraments, and through them in the divine communion of the Holy Trinity.