Ecclesia Spiritualis
in medieval Christian thought, particularly associated with the 12th-century monk Gioacchino da Fiore, who envisioned a future spiritual church that would replace the institutional Church of his time, which he viewed as becoming too worldly and political.
This Ecclesia Spiritualis was conceived as a new, more authentic Church focused on inner spiritual life and divine wisdom, in contrast to the Ecclesia Carnalis (fleshly Church), representing the hierarchical and temporal power of the Roman Catholic Church.
The idea gained traction among certain religious and mystical movements, including the Franciscan reformers, and was explored in theological works such as Ernst Benz’s Ecclesia spiritualis: Kirchenidee und Geschichtstheologie der franziskanischen Reformation.
The term Ecclesia itself, derived from Greek, originally meant "assembly" or "congregation" and was used in the New Testament to describe the community of believers gathered in worship. It carries connotations of being "called out" from the world to form a spiritual assembly under God’s guidance. In early Christianity, it symbolized the collective body of believers and was central to the formation of ecclesial communities.