The Ecclesiological Relevance of Reception

From the perspective of a theory of communication the church is a community of reception [of messages] relevant for salvation (conf. Hebr. 1, 1 sq.; 2, 1; 1 Cor. 15, 1-39). It has to consciously undertake the apostolic message as its addressee in the actuality of its own existence. This primarily takes place through the instances of faith testimonies (Scriptures, Tradition, Magisterium, Theology, and Sense of Faith), among which the sensus fidelium is given particular importance: the experience of all Christians must be incorporated in the shared belief so that it can truly be faith of the church. The consequences that entail can be canvassed through examples from cannon law, the theology for the magisterium and, most of all, from ecumenism.