An ecclesial community is, in the terminology used by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, a Christian religious group that does not meet the Catholic definition of a "Church". Although the word "ecclesial" itself means "church" or "gathering" in a political sense in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

, the Catholic Church applies the term "Church" in the proper sense only to Christian communities that, in the Catholic Church's view, "have true sacraments and above all – because of the apostolic succession – the priesthood and the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

".Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
''Responses to Some Questions regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church'', Fourth Question
The Catholic Church formally recognizes as "Churches" of a nature similar to its own

particular Church In metaphysics, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with universals. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed to a ...

es (

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

s and autonomous or ''sui iuris'' Churches) the Eastern Churches separated from full communion with it, namely those of

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Church of the East. It has not denied the claim of some communities of

Western Christianity Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...

to meet its definition of "Church" (an example is the Polish National Catholic Church). Indeed, by referring to "The Separated Churches and Ecclesial Communities in the West," the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

recognized the existence of some Western Churches that are not in full communion with the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

. However, the Catholic Church expressly excludes "those Christian communities born out of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

of the sixteenth century," since, according to Catholic doctrine, these communities do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of orders, and therefore lack a constitutive element of the Church. This includes the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

, the validity of whose orders the Roman Catholic Church has declared "absolutely null and utterly void". This judgement, as enunciated in the papal bull ''

Apostolicae curae ''Apostolicae curae'' is the title of a papal bull, issued in 1896 by Pope Leo XIII, declaring all Anglican ordinations to be "absolutely null and utterly void". The Anglican Communion made no official reply, but the archbishops of Canterbury ...

'' of 1896, has been given as an example of a truth connected to revelation that is to be held definitively.''Doctrinal Commentary on the Concluding Formula of the ''Professio Fidei, 29 June 1998
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Criticism of the label

After Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger promulgated the document ''

Dominus Iesus ( en, The Lord Jesus) is a declaration by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (previously known as the "Holy Office"), approved in a plenary meeting of the Congregation and signed by its then prefect, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later ...

'' in 2000, several leaders from the

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church, sometimes called the Church of Denmark ( da, Folkekirken, literally: "The People's Church" or unofficially da, Den danske folkekirke, literally: "The Danish People's Church"; kl, ...

replied in a public statement, saying in part:

Ecclesial Communities in Formation

Other forms of the term ecclesial community refers to those communities that are in formation to become missions of a particular church or parishes of a particular diocese, or eparchy. Ecclesial communities can refer to groups of individuals who gather for a spiritual reason, primarily for worship and fellowship that typically does not receive sacraments unless a sacramental minister, i.e., a priest or deacon, is available.

References

{{Religious slurs Christian terminology