L’ecclesiologia domenicana nella disputa tra frati Mendicanti e clero secolare nel XIII secolo

The paper argues that Congar’s very well known contribution on the eccle siological aspects on the Secular-Mendicant controversy in the XIII century is still valid in many aspects, despite the fact that it has been published more than half a century ago. More recent scholarship has improved our knowledge of the dispute, both publishing additional primary sources and throwing more light on specific issues. Scholars did not feel the need, however, to dramatically modify his interpretation. Its most controversial aspect concerns Congar’s comparison between Franciscan and Dominican ecclesiological positions, as Zuckerman’s, Horst’s and Bonino’s diverging interpretations show. Following Congar’s sugges tions, the present article maintains that, some differences in detail notwithstand ing, the most important consequence of the Secular-Mendicant controversy con sisted in the breakthrough of an ecclesiology of the universal Church as a unity, as opposed to an ecclesiology of the plurality of local Churches. This image of the Church became the common background of later Conciliar debates, where Do minicans played a significant role