Współczesne przemiany w katolickiej teologii prymatu biskupa Rzymu

The Catholic theology of the primacy of the bishop of Rome received an essential impulse for development thanks to the incentive of John Paul II, which appeared in the encyclical about ecumenical activity Ut unum sint (No. 95). The article undertakes one of the motifs of this development included in the thesis: the essence and form of the service of the bishop of Rome’s primacy in the Church is determined by the very nature of Christian faith, or – more precisely – by ecclesial nature of the faith. The mission of St Peter and of his successors is in the service of this faith (cf. Łk 22, 32). The first part of the article presents the context of a contemporary, post-conciliar perspective of the primacy of the bishop of Rome. In the second part the author points out that the truth about the ecclesial itinerarium of St Peter’s faith (living the faith in the Church and with the Church) constitutes the crucial element of the papal teaching at the end of the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st century. This truth shapes the primatial self-awareness of the Popes of this period and is expressed in the form in which their service is performed. The ecclesial reciprocity in the faith causes the primacy itself to be presented as ministry in the service of communion of faith of the whole Church.