Medieval Ecclesiology and the Conciliar Movement

Author(s):  
Norman Tanner

This chapter covers ecclesiology in the Western (or Catholic) church from the beginning of the schism between the churches of East and West—between Rome and Constantinople—in 1054 until the eve of the Reformation in 1517. Ecclesiology is taken to mean the nature or constitution of the church. The topic is considered from various standpoints: how it was viewed or taught by church officials, including the popes of the period, by councils, by theologians and other writers, and by the laity. Thereby the subject is treated from the standpoints of both the institutional church and the people of God, both ‘from above’ and ‘from below’. The chapter is divided chronologically into three periods: the Gregorian reform and its aftermath, from the mid-eleventh to the late twelfth century; the ‘long’ thirteenth century; the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries including the Avignon papacy, the conciliar movement, and the early Renaissance.

Horizons ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-53
Author(s):  
Brian P. Flanagan

ABSTRACTThis article looks at two major metaphors used in contemporary ecclesiology, the church as “the People of God” and as “the Bride of Christ,” which have functioned in some of the polarizing debates within the Catholic Church in North America. It then suggests some methodological reasons why reliance upon metaphors in ecclesiology, either through the balancing of different metaphors or the promotion of a dominant metaphor, is inadequate to the task of understanding the church systematically. It then suggests some avenues for future ecclesiological method that may help to understand the church better and so to respond better to contemporary ecclesiological debates.


Author(s):  
Ormond Rush

For 400 years after the Council of Trent, a juridical model of the church dominated Roman Catholicism. Shifts towards a broader ecclesiology began to emerge in the nineteenth century. Despite the attempts to repress any deviations from the official theology after the crisis of Roman Catholic Modernism in the early twentieth century, various renewal movements, known as ressourcement, in the decades between the world wars brought forth a period of rich ecclesiological research, with emphasis given to notions such as the Mystical Body, the People of God, the church as mystery, as sacrament, and as communio. The Second Vatican Council incorporated many of these developments into its vision for renewal and reform of the Roman Catholic Church. Over half a century after Vatican II, a new phase in its reception is emerging with the pontificate of Pope Francis.


Author(s):  
Francis Appiah-Kubi ◽  
Robert Bonsu

The nature and the missionary role of the laity in the church is one of the issues currently vital to the church and theologians. From the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) perspective, the word laity is technically understood to mean all the faithful except those in holy orders and those in the state of religious life specially approved by the Catholic Church (LG31). These faithful are by baptism made one with Christ and constitute the People of God; they are sharers in the priestly, prophetic and kingly functions of Christ; and they carry out for their own part the mission of the whole Christian people in the church and in the world. However, the distinction between the ordained and the lay is a real one. A great deal of attention has been paid to the ordained ministry of the Church, its nature, its authority and its functions. The laity tends, by way of contrast, to be taken very much for granted, as though in their case no special problems arise. This study discusses the nature, role, and participation of lay people in the mission of the Church as proposed by the Second Vatican Council. It treats succinctly the historical development of the Laity and the challenges and opportunities inherent in their mission.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellton Luis Sbardella ◽  
Clélia Peretti

O presente artigo apresenta reflexões bíblicas e do magistério da Igrejasobre o tema da misericórdia. A misericórdia é o fundamento para os desafios que a fé cristã enfrenta diante das diferentes manifestações de violência na nossa sociedade. O tema da misericórdia está presente na Sagrada Escritura e no Catecismo da Igreja Católica (CIC), o qual nos mostra a concretização da ação misericordiosa de Deus em Jesus para todo ser humano. A Bula Misericordiae Vultus, do Papa Francisco, na  proclamação do Jubileu Extraordinárioda Misericórdia, apresenta com clareza o rosto da misericórdia de Deus, sua presença e ações manifestas no caminhar e na história do povo. O desafio do cristão hoje é uma prática evangélica da misericórdia, que ofereça respostas de libertação àquilo que fere a dignidade do homem e da mulher.Palavras-chave: Misericordiae Vultus. Deus é misericórdia. Violência e misericórdia.Abstract: The present article presents biblical reflections and the magisterium of the Church on the subject of mercy. Mercy is the foundation for the challenges that the Christian faith faces in the face of the different manifestations of violence in our society. The theme of mercy is present in Sacred Scripture and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) which shows us the concreteness of the merciful action of God in Jesus for every human being. The Bull Misericordiae Vultus of Pope Francis in the proclamation of the extraordinary jubilee of mercy clearly presents the face of the mercy of God, his presence and actions manifested in the way of the people and in his history. The challenge of the Christian today is an evangelical practice of mercy offering answers of deliverance to that which hurts the dignity of man and woman.Keywords: Misericordiae Vultus. God is mercy. Violence and mercy.


Author(s):  
Robert S. Pelton

Before Vatican II, pastoral theology reflected a clear distinction between the ordained and non-ordained members of the Church, but a gradual nuancing of this issue was taking place in Latin America as early as the 1950s. In those areas, there had been rather intensive study of “modern” European theologians. Through their writings and pastoral visits to the region of America, these progressive European theologians began to strongly influence Latin American theology —especially in Chile and Brazil. This influence was shown through the beginnings of small Christian communities, and through an emphasis on doing “contextual” theology. This is a theology that emphasizes the experiential in the light of tradition, which eventually led to Latin American liberation theology. The Church of Latin America has long been a leader in innovations that incorporate the role of Scripture in everyday life: the preferential and evangelizing option for the poor, small Christian communities (also known as CEBs or BECs), lay apostolates and lay missionaries, and other endeavors to put the Church at service to the People of God. “Laying boots on the ground” has become truly essential to carrying out the Church’s mission in the world and pastoral ambience contributes strongly to this growing appreciation of the Catholic laity. Combined with the importance of theologically reflecting within the context of regional realities, this approach can provide hope for a challenged but youthful and vibrant Catholic Church of Latin America.


1948 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-232
Author(s):  
A. G. Hebert

The subject is the Bible, and its relation to the Church. Hence I shall not attempt to deal with the so-called Bible Difficulties, or with the Higher Criticism, or to develop a theory of Inspiration. I must try to give a line about the general interpretation of the Bible, as being God's Book and truly inspired, written in the Church and for the Church's use; and as written by men, because it has been God's method to reveal Himself through men. It was written by men, and tells a story which is real history; therefore we must have thorough critical investigation of the Bible. It is God's Book because it tells the story of God's saving Purpose, worked out in the history of the believing and worshipping People of God, Israel, His chosen nation. Because this story is true, we have nothing to fear from the Higher Criticism. If that Criticism has been at fault, as it often has been, it is because it has often failed to see the record, as it needs to be seen, from the point of view of believing and worshipping Israel.For the Church is the People of God, God's Israel. As such, it has existed not for some 1900 years only, but for more than 3000 years, since the day when the Lord God redeemed it out of Egypt and made His Covenant with it.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-434
Author(s):  
Johanis Ohoitimur ◽  
James Krejci ◽  
Jozef Richard Raco ◽  
Yulius Raton ◽  
Frankie Taroreh

Strategic planning is commonly used in profit-oriented institutions. However, it is rarely applied to non-profit organizations such as churches. The Holy Bible reveals the extensive use of strategic management by the believers as documented both in the Old and New Testament, in regards to the implementation of strategic planning to organize the people of God. The Vicariate Episcopal of Tonsea of the Diocese of Manado, as a local Catholic Church Community decided on applying strategic planning methods to rank priorities of tasks required to meet their pastoral mission. Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process, the study reveals that the ranking of the key elements of their mission, the program of the Ministry of the Word and Sacrament, was the highest priority at 23.8%, followed by preserving the treasury of faith of  20.1%, then the fellowship and leadership with 19.7%, promoting the dignity of the laity with 14.4%, the Catholic education with 11.9% and the last was managing the Church property with 10.2%. The highest ranked sub-criteria were; organizing pastoral structure (7.6%), followed by the upgrading catechetic program (7.2%), then role model and competency of liturgy leadership (7.0%). This study provides direction to the parish priests of the Vicariate Episcopal of Tonsea and provides a methodology to formulate their strategic plans and best utilize their resources. This study demonstrated the importance of the Analytical Hierarchy Process in determining the priority of the programs identified by the Church. The researchers recommend further and deeper research on other Vicariates of the Diocese of Manado.


1984 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-64
Author(s):  
T. F. Torrance

Few people in our time have been more deeply concerned with thinking into each other again the inner substance of the evangelical and catholic emphases in the Church of Jesus Christ, than Oscar Cullmann. This has been especially evident in the way in which he has consistently sought to penetrate into the essential harmony of the Gospel that not only underlies the whole history of the Church but underpins the divisions between the Evangelical Churches and the Roman Catholic Church, bringing his unusually fresh understanding of the NT and the Early Church to bear constructively upon the areas of discord and friction, not least in respect of the concept of the Papacy. His many writings reveal unparalleled sensitivity and appreciation for the centrality of the biblical message, the sanctity of tradition and the continuity of worship in the redeemed life of the people of God, which have allowed him to bring together, without compromise, the concentration upon the core of the Gospel which has characterised the Evangelical Churches and the universal task and unifying order which have characterised the Catholic Churches.


1999 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 128-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Gordon

Iconoclasm, rather than liturgical formulation, usually springs to mind when one reflects upon the events in Zurich in the mid-1520s. Indeed, historians of the Swiss Reformation have hardly interested themselves in liturgy, and one searches in vain the most recent and comprehensive treatment of Zwingli’s theology for a discussion of the subject. Ignored by both historians and theologians, the study of liturgy in the Swiss Reformation cuts the figure of the unknown guest at a party who everyone assumes is being entertained by someone else. The consequence has been that liturgy has not been allowed to inform our understanding of Swiss religious change; historians have preferred to leave it in the safe keeping of liturgists who, for the most part, have attended to the history of worship as a separate and distinct act of the community controlled by the clergy. This, surely, can only form part of the picture, for liturgy was perhaps the most inclusive act of the Church: worship was experienced by all levels of society, even if the people brought and took away a panoply of varied levels of comprehension and acceptance. As the central, public act of the Church, the early liturgies of the Reformation articulated the tangled web of convictions, needs, and requirements of communities in transition. Liturgies cannot be separated from either the beliefs which created them or the physical space in which they were performed. The ordered rhythm of words and actions in a particular locality was intended to engage the intellect and senses, drawing out responses at once emotional and cognitive. If we can glimpse something of the experience of worship, whether positive or negative, we shall have an insight into the mental world of the early Reformation.


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