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Prayer and Self-Communication

Revisiting Joseph Ratzinger's Eucharistic Ecclesiology

Antonio Esquillon

From: Landas Vol. 38 No. 1 (2026)

  • March 19, 2026
  • pp. 149–169

Abstract

This article explores the Eucharistic Ecclesiology of Joseph Ratzinger, which takes its bearings from Christology. It discusses how Ratzinger understands the Church as fundamentally originating from the prayer of Jesus, which assumes its supreme expression in His Eucharistic self-communication. The communication and communicability of the Body of Christ finally draws out the intrinsic connection between Christology, Pneumatology, and Ecclesiology, so central in Ratzinger's Eucharistic Ecclesiology.

Research Areas: Ecclesiology, Systematic Theology

Keywords: Communion, Eucharistic Ecclesiology, Prayer, Ratzinger, Self-communication