Evaluating Church Organisations by the Light of Lumen Gentium

Ecclesiology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-33
Author(s):  
Christina Kheng

Rapid growth in the field of management science in recent decades has resulted in a plethora of resources for leadership and management in the Church. How should ecclesiologists respond to this trend? This essay highlights the importance of a theologically-grounded approach to managing church organisations. In particular, it examines a foundational document in the Catholic tradition from the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, to draw implications for evaluating church organisations. Most studies on Lumen Gentium have focused on one or other aspect of its multiply-rich content. This analysis, however, on the recent 50th anniversary of the document’s promulgation in November 1964, recaps its overall message through a triple hermeneutics of author, text and receiver and brings this message into dialogue with the modern-day challenge of managing church organisations. It will be proposed that the real fruitfulness of these organisations depends on the extent to which they manifest the Church’s nature and mission as a sacrament of salvation for the world. The implications of this are then translated into a framework for evaluating church organisations.

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
Gary Carville

The Second Vatican Council and, in particular, its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, changed much in the daily life of the Church. In Ireland, a country steeped in the Catholic tradition but largely peripheral to the theological debates that shaped Vatican II, the changes to liturgy and devotional practice were implemented dutifully over a relatively short time span and without significant upset. But did the hierarchical manner of their reception, like that of the Council itself, mean that Irish Catholics did not receive the changes in a way that deepened their spirituality? And was the popular religious memory of the people lost through a neglect of liturgical piety and its place in the interior life, alongside what the Council sought to achieve? In this essay, Dr Gary Carville will examine the background to the liturgical changes at Vatican II, the contribution to their formulation and implementation by leaders of the Church in Ireland, the experiences of Irish Catholic communities in the reception process, and the ongoing need for a liturgical formation that brings theology, memory, and practice into greater dialogue.


2018 ◽  
pp. 239-250
Author(s):  
Bogdan Ferdek

Second Vatican Council took over from the first Vatican Council the doctrine on infallible teaching of the Bishop of Rome, approved it and presented in more complete context. It is the teaching of Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium on infallibility of bishops when together with the pope they exercise the Church's Magisterium, and on supernatural sense of faith of all people, thanks to which they cannot get lost in faith. International Theological Commission issued “Sensus fidei” in the life of the Church, a document which deals with the issue of supernatural sense of faith of all people of God. This document presents sufficient theology of sensus fidei and therefore it is possible to attempt to place the dogma about the pope’s infallibility into more complete context which sensus fidei is a part of. Three carriers of infallibility in the Church: the pope, the college of bishops and sensus fidei are complementary to one another when it comes to explanation and defence of the divine Revelation. None of them can form anything new in relation to the Revelation. All together serve infallibility given to the Church by the Spirit of Truth.


2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (106) ◽  
pp. 349
Author(s):  
José Raimundo de Melo

A multiplicidade e variedade dos serviços ministeriais que se fazem presentes na celebração litúrgica do povo de Deus é elemento chave na compreensão da comunidade cristã, pois os ministérios, em definitivo, exprimem e definem a própria realidade da Igreja. A inteira assembléia é ministerial porque a Igreja mesma é toda ministerial. E esta ministerialidade se expressa na liturgia através da diversidade de funções e ofícios que cada um é chamado a desempenhar. Ao contrário do que quase sempre sucede no mundo, porém, a hierarquia de funções na Igreja não denota prestígio e nem pode conduzir à acepção de pessoas. Ancorada na mais pura linha evangélica, deve ela indicar compromisso cristão e serviço fraterno em total doação a Deus e aos irmãos. Para uma reflexão sobre esta importante realidade eclesial, que a partir sobretudo do Concílio Vaticano II a Igreja tem aprofundado e se esforçado em viver, empreenderemos a seguir, ancorados em alguns textos litúrgicos, um estudo a respeito dos ministérios presentes no momento celebrativo da comunidade cristã. Publicamos aqui a primeira parte do artigo.ABSTRACT: The multiplicity and variety of ministerial services which are present in a liturgical celebration of the People of God is a key element in the understanding of the Christian community, since ministries, of themselves, express and define the very reality of the Church. The entire assembly is ministerial because the Church itself is all ministerial. And this ministeriality expresses itself in the liturgy through the diversity of functions and offices which each one is called on to fulfill. Contrary to what almost always happens in the world, however, the hierarchy of functions in the Church does not denote prestige, nor can it lead to the classification of persons. Anchored in the purest evangelical tradition, it should indicate Christian commitment and fraternal service in total self-giving to God and to others. For a reflection on this important ecclesial reality, which, especially from the Second Vatican Council, the Church has struggled to live out, we undertake a study – anchored in some liturgical texts – of the ministries present in the celebrative moment of the Christian community. We publish here the first part of the article. 


Author(s):  
David Cloutier

This chapter considers Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality. It begins by considering tensions concerning marriage in Catholic theology since the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II). Attempts to move beyond primarily juridical accounts of marriage have been fruitful and have led to an overvaluation of modern notions of romantic love and the person. Against this tendency the chapter discusses how theologies of marriage attentive to the teaching of Vatican II—and of prior Catholic tradition—place the notion of marriage squarely within the sacramental life of the Church. Marriage is conceived as revealing and furthering the divine plan for humanity. Within this context the chapter explores recent magisterial pronouncements and work by theologians on the place of the family or the household within the Church. This exploration leads back to a reimagining of the spousal bond.


Author(s):  
Arthur B. Calkins

The formal treatment of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the Second Vatican Council (1962–65) was solemnly promulgated on 21 November 1964 as the eighth and final of the council’s most foundational document Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. There was intense debate over whether there should be a separate document on Mary or whether it should be included in the document on the Church. By a margin of just forty votes it was decided to include the document on Mary in the constitution on the Church. There was a constant tension between presenting Mary in terms of her analogy with Christ and her analogy with the Church. After eight drafts, a remarkable balance was achieved. While the Council Fathers had no intention of saying a final word on Mary, they presented a biblical-dogmatic treatise that provides a solid foundation for teaching about Mary, which continued to be developed and commented on by the postconciliar popes, especially by Pope Saint John Paul II.


Author(s):  
Matthew A. Shadle

The official social teaching of Popes John XXIII and Paul VI and the Second Vatican Council embraced secularization—what they called the “legitimate autonomy” of the world. It also recognized the intrinsic value of human work and humankind’s increasing mastery over the created world. The “aggiornamento framework” proposed in their teaching envisions the church as open to the modern world. This framework proposes a humanistic vision of development, including the human person’s material, social, and spiritual dimensions. The aggiornamento framework also presents a historical view of social development, recognizing both that humankind can transform the institutions of society and that God is present in history and leads humankind onward through history to the Kingdom of God.


2021 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-370
Author(s):  
Jakob Karl Rinderknecht

Over the last several decades, a group of German-speaking theologians has proposed an argument against the possibility of the ordination of women as deacons. They argue both that the unity of the sacrament of order requires that anyone ordained to the diaconate must be able to be ordained to the presbyterate and the episcopate and that the gendered constitution of humanity prevents women from imaging Christ as head of the church. This paper argues that this understanding of the sacrament and who properly receives it leads to a misinterpretation of the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council and a reinstatement of a medieval aporia that Lumen Gentium sought to overcome. Therefore, this argument should not be allowed to affect the Church’s deliberations on the question of whether women can be ordained as deacons.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
José De Souza Paim ◽  
Pedro Iwashita

Resumo: Este é um estudo teológico sobre o mistério da Encarnação do Verbono pensamento do Papa Francisco como fundamento sobre o qual ele se apoiapara propor, a partir da Evangelli Gaudium, uma renovação eclesial inadiável1,uma Igreja em permanente estado de missão2, a partir do Evangelho, núcleocentral do anúncio, para a manifestação da beleza do amor de Deus, reveladoem Jesus Cristo morto e ressuscitado3. Para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisaserá feita a análise de alguns números da Constituição Dogmática Dei Verbumcom o fim de melhor explicitar a revelação divina e a encarnação como ápiceda revelação. O resultado desta pesquisa é ajudar na percepção que o Papatem do Concílio Vaticano II sobre a Igreja e sua dimensão pastoral no mundo ecomo ele, nos passos do Concílio, propor uma renovação eclesial.Palavras-chave: Revelação. Papa Francisco. Evangelii gaudium.Abstract: This is a theological study on the mystery of the Incarnation of the Wordin the thought of Pope Francis as the grounds on which he relies to propose,from Evangelii Gaudium, an unchanging ecclesial renewal (EG 27), a Church in permanent state of mission (EG 20), from the Gospel, the central nucleus ofthe announcement, for the manifestation of the beauty of God’s love, as well asrevealed in Jesus Christ died and resurrected (EG 36). For the development ofthis research some numbers of the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum will beanalyzed in order to better explain divine revelation and incarnation as the apexof the revelation. The result of this research is to help understand the Pope’s per-ception of the Second Vatican Council on the Church and its pastoral dimensionin the world and how he proposes an ecclesial renewal in the steps of the Council.Keywords: Revelation. Pope Francis. Evangelii gaudium.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Petrus Canisius Edi Laksito

The First Pastoral Consultation of the Diocese of Surabaya held on November 26th-28th 2009 proposed The Basic Direction of the Diocese of Surabaya 2010-2019, which is stating the desire of the Church of the Diocese of Surabaya to be“a communion of Christ’s disciples, which is more and more maturing in faith, convivial, full of service and missionary”. The Second Pastoral Consultation held on October 18th-20th 2019, keeping this purpose statement for the next 10 years inThe Basic Direction of the Diocese of Surabaya 2020-2030, thus confirms the significancy of an “Ecclesiology of Discipleship” for the formation of the people of the Diocese. This paper wants to propose a study regarding this ecclesiology based on the document of the Second Vatican Council, i.e. The Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, art. 1. Being a Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the modern world, Gaudium et Spes, opened with a statement regarding the unity of the followers of Christ and the men of this age, would be fundamentally authoritative and enlightening for reflecting the vocation of the local Church of Surabaya as “a communion of the disciples of Christ” to become aware of her mission for the world (ad extradimension), while she is, as a communion of the faith (ad intra dimension), journeyingtowards eternal unity with the God


Author(s):  
Ian Ker

This chapter considers the flowering of new religious communities after the Second Vatican Council. The Council’s ecclesiological constitution Lumen gentium emphasizes the charismatic dimension of the Church at some key points, although without pitting this dimension against the hierarchical. Recent charismatic movements within the Church are the latest manifestation of a constant feature of the Church’s life, from early Christian ascetic communities, through to the new religious orders of the sixteenth and then the nineteenth centuries. The latter sections of the chapter consider a series of recent movements and their different charisms: Opus Dei, Charismatic Renewal, the Emmanuel Community, the Community of the Beatitudes, the Neocatechumenal Way, Communion and Liberation, and Focolare.


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