Clarifications from the Viewpoint of Constitutional Canon Law on “Affective” and “Effective” Episcopal Collegiality

Abstract

This contribution explores the concrete congruency of the expressions of “affective collegiality” and “effective collegiality” and especially the canonical comparison of these notions. Recent magisterium has contributed to advancing the rediscovery of episcopal collegiality in terms of the originating, organic, and universal nature intrinsic to the episcopacy, and it has been able to clarify the above-mentioned differentiation (foreshadowed in Apostolos suos and clearly delineated in Pastores gregis and Apostolorum successores). Despite the positive clarifications which have taken place, the happy phonetic assonance of the words and the practical necessities which motivate the adoption of the paired expressions, the concept of affective and effective collegiality doesn’t appear overly precise and satisfactory. The categories risk, above all, confusing the univocal nature and the juridical value of the principle of collegiality. Collegiality indicates, in its proper sense, the juridical principle which governs the functioning of a constitutional organ (the College of Bishops). The distinction between “affective collegiality” and “effective collegiality” appears – to put it briefly – more functional and descriptive than it does essential and analytical. Besides the quest for a more satisfactory verbal description and conceptual layout