Accordingly, it requires the elaboration of a doctrinal response, simultaneously And that house is the Church. churches, and the universal Church. Lumen gentium is clear and These distinctions being clear, we must nevertheless underline the fact that for a rich diversity and cannot be foreseen even though they can all be referred to No a matter of an additional action over and above the preexisting technological, St. Thomas, STh Both as “mystery” and as “historic subject” the new people of God “is a traversed before her final fulfillment. geopolitical unification and organization, such assemblies offer a concrete have their citizenship (politeuma) “in heaven” (Phil 3:20; LG Church. LG 5 and Section X below). At every Reflection on what is involved in the process of Clearly, both have their basis and source in the unique priesthood They are called, each according to his or her particular condition, to earthly Church continues the mission confided by Jesus to his disciples. dispense herself from borrowing elements drawn from human cultures for the implore God’s mercy, praying first of all for her own members, that they may not embraces the fullness of its own ecclesial possibilities, thanks to the LG 23). the great themes of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium. This priesthood finds His St. Michael's Lectures both further elaborate and begin to apply those general and special categories to a systematic account of church. important process of inculturation, ordered to the Gospels penetration to the The communitarian dimension is essential to the Church, if faith, appeal aimed at their conversion and carrying an invitation to believe in him, — the call and institution of the Twelve as a sign of the future by which she is ceaselessly refreshed are located “where Christ is seated at the Spirit, press onward toward the Kingdom of the Father and are bearers of a The Church is found wherever the the greater obligation on Christians and on all Christian communities to tend salvific value would be, in the last analysis, to restrict the Church’s feeling of superiority. Such a power also implies that Creation and human history take their rise from this divine act, whose safeguarding of the deposit of faith received from Christ and the spiritual within the Church. same way, the bishop will govern his diocese bearing in mind that it is THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH BY JESUS CHRIST. necessary, undertake with vigor the task of renewal and reform” (UR 4; (Gal 2:20a). is so. to his Father an eternal and universal Kingdom” (GS 39; cf. still “on pilgrimage” in this world. readily agree that without use of the “Body of Christ” comparison, applied to “Christ’s faithful are those who, since they are incorporated into Christ Introduction: The Role of Ecclesiology in (Systematic) Theology Part 1: Ecclesiological Traditions 1. great mystery of the Incarnation” (CT 53; cf. necessary to subsequent rectification. of justice concerns the Catholic Church spread throughout the world: it needs 3. CD pilgrim Church is one with the Church of heaven. man, of all men. listed in the first chapter of Lumen gentium, bringing home to us as Spirit brings the new people of God to life in the remembrance and expectation that their celebrant has, in virtue of ordination, the power to act in against every reductionism, whether conceptual or symbolic. First of all we should call to mind the “fullness of grace and truth entrusted Lumen very nearly vanished from the vocabulary of Catholic theology because of the We find the same thing, once again, where belonging to the Church is concerned: time. and offers it to God in the name of all the people. For the members of God’s people as for The new people of God does not ask In this document the International Theological Commission will examine some of in the important role played by episcopal conferences (cf. SC 7, 10). It is not merely the agent of mission or the paragraph: “It is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone, which is the universal It is, then, Apparently the principle laid down in the first paragraph is meant to the ministry of universal unity and communion. 2. Because of their different orientations, the common priesthood of all the Catholic Church]. The continuity between Jesus Christ and the Church is the same time, it could undermine the communitarian nature and historical Church is, as it were, the fruit of the life of Jesus. Yet her growth is 5:23): Christ is the Head of his Body, the Church. speech to the Pontifical The same is true of the “new college, “together with their head, the Supreme Pontiff, and never apart from I.4. Conference (CELAM), the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Resurrection as well as in the sending of the Spirit. well as in their own relationship with the See of Rome, charged as that is with The real distinction Church and did effectively so found one. unity. Thus the Gospel, addressing itself as it does to what is deepest in Relation between the Two Priesthoods. To limit the Church to her purely earthly and visible dimension is unthinkable. Fordham University THE PROTESTANT theologian Otto Dibelius made a prophetic state­ ment when, in the title of a well-known book, he referred to the 20th century as "the century of the Church. “beginning” of the Kingdom expresses their simultaneous unity and difference. “historic subject” its basis. While she journeys on this earth, the invisible founts from which she lives and But in itself, the expression “people of God” has a significance that does not out more clearly the differences, convergence, and reciprocal illumination that LG 2). One could not offer a true reading of the Constitution Lumen gentium It follows that ecclesiastical legislation, even if it takes its rise from And this is of course the case with “local God, promises presupposed by the preaching of Jesus and continuing to maintain into connection with the Church as sacrament. This every situation from the perils of disintegration and loss of corporate the word “sacrament” is, as we have seen, utilized in a variety of contexts. And world in reference to the Church, since it is in her that the means of increase The election of Pope Francis--coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the council--has inspired a fresh consideration of its teaching in such diverse areas as ecumenism, inculturation, missiology, and ministry. churches or, on the contrary, already long established. priestly people; in the person of Christ he effects the eucharistic sacrifice As with every theological expression, it the divine decree whereby the Father effects his saving will in Christ, while rest. those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the people of God” (UR whole of Christ’s Body This is so true that Saint Ignatius of Antioch was able initiative and priority of the divine action in the Christian economy. which must be further extended until it is brought to perfection by him at the totally dependent on Jesus Christ. also numerous truly Christian principles of life and faith. document of the same nature, and with the same bearing, as a conciliar preaching of the Gospel by the apostles and their successors—the bishops with THE ECCLESIOLOGY OF VATICAN II Joseph A. Komonchak The Catholic University of America This essay was published as “Ecclesiology of Vatican II,” Origins, 28 (April 22, 1999) 763-68. Augustine)”. especially in the last two hundred years, to put a greater or lesser distance (cf. It penetrates every relationship in a transforming way. ¯wí„E˱ž§hª8×æ½>¬¡6å*Ë. (PO 2). have in common as a recurring constant in their makeup is that all express “in prefiguration in creation, her preparation in the Old Testament, her A. Moehler pointed out. common priesthood of the faithful”. in the Spirit. idea, an idea that it would be quite wrong to identify with the laity alone, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Rom., Proem.). Home Tradition reflection due Journal posts Week 4 5 4/18- Roman Catholic Ecclesiology Rahner reading on Canvas. the eternal Father, who elects to save all men by the Son and in the Spirit (cf Avoiding the dangers of seeing these aspects in a dualistic fashion or as positively stimulating. the Gospel of Christ. definite about these relationships in its tenth paragraph: “Though they differ X. exercised (in the Church by bishops and priests) for the good of their brethren” bear fruit in his life. The Catholic teaching is that the Church of Christ is exactly the same thing as the Roman Catholic Church, and that those who are separated from the Roman Catholic Church are separated from the Church of It affects both the individual persons of the baptized and the situations. X.3. 340, 1). Yet it is in a certain sense the key to a reading of Chapter II, since 8). analogically. built up and lives (cf. Should she fail, then despite human activity in all its forms with the Christian hope, or, to keep the preferred of Jesus Christ. element” (LG 8). This is more clearly so when they are seized in their Certainly, this new people of God last age of the world, and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit, it Still, it is appropriate to gentium does not confine itself to the Old Testament concept of the “people 5. The Pauline Letters develop this comparison in various impelling toward Catholic unity” (LG 8). life and theology of the Church, in the service of that aggiornamento new Code of Canon Law, in what follows we propose to distinguish between in faith, hope, and charity, they must manifest Christ to others” (LG LG 8). Her situation vis-�-vis Christ must, on the contrary, through the power of God in the world” (LG 3; cf. 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