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Catholic ecclesiology is thetheological study of theCatholic Church, its nature, organization and its "distinctive place in the economy ofsalvation throughChrist".[2] Such study shows a progressive development over time being further described inrevelation or inphilosophy. Here the focus is on the time leading into and since theSecond Vatican Council (1962–1965).
Pope Paul VI stressed the importance of the church's self-knowledge in his firstencyclical letter,Ecclesiam Suam:
We are convinced that the Church must look with penetrating eyes within itself, ponder the mystery of its own being, and draw enlightenment and inspiration from a deeper scrutiny of the doctrine of its own origin, nature, mission, and destiny.[3]
The doctrine ofCommunitas Perfecta ("Perfect Community") orSocietas Perfecta ("Perfect Society") teaches that the Church is a self-sufficient or independent society which already has all the necessary resources and conditions to achieve its overall goal (final end) of the universal salvation of all peoples. It has historically been used in order to best define Church-State relations. Its origins are in Aristotelian political philosophy,[4] although its adaptation to ecclesiology was done by the Scholastics. The doctrine was widely used in Neoscholastic circles before theSecond Vatican Council.[5]
This approach ofPius XII moved beyond the "perfect society" model to the "Mystical Body of Christ", a historical designation explained more fully in this document, identifying the Body of Christ with the Catholic Church in a way that would be repeated by theSecond Vatican Council.[6]Lumen gentium, after mentioning "Christ, present to us in His Body, which is the Church" (14), goes on to speak of those who are fully incorporated (14), conjoined (15), and related (16) to the Church. This more expansive idea of the Church is developed in the second chapter ofLumen gentium on the "People of God".[7]
The council's decree on ecumenism,Unitatis redintegratio, declares that “The Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using [separated churches and communities] as a means of salvation” (para. 3).[8] This goes beyond the statement inMystici corporis Christi that says of non-Catholics that “by an unconscious desire and longing they have a certain relationship with the Mystical Body of the Redeemer” (para. 103). Pius XII can be said to have popularized the notion of the Church as the Body of Christ, which was already present in the writings ofSaint Paul in theNew Testament.[9]
The second chapter ofLumen gentium is entitled "On the People of God". “People” avoids membership disputes: there are various ways of association; see "Body of Christ" above, which comes from this chapter. Since this chapter ofLumen gentium comes before Chapter 3 "On the Hierarchical Structure of the Church and in particular on the Episcopate", commentators note that it turns the focus from the hierarchy to the laity, declaring that the Holy Spirit "distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts He makes them fit and ready to undertake the various tasks and offices which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the Church" (12).[10]
This is described as a "welcoming judgment on a great mass of theoretical and practical experimentation clamoring for recognition… . The Church´s life does not flow down from Pope thru BB and clergy to a passive laity.[clarification needed] It springs up from the grass-roots of the People of God, and the function of authority is co-ordination, authentication and, in exceptional cases, control.”[10]
Subsistence is the doctrine that the Church of Christ "subsists in" the Catholic Church.
Subsistit in is a term taken fromLumen gentium paragraph 8, and is intended to acknowledge that ecclesial elements of the Catholic Church can also be found elsewhere:[11]
This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society,subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible structure.
The theological commission has stated that "the elements which are mentioned concern not only individuals but their communities as well; in this fact precisely is located the foundation of the ecumenical movement."[11]
Those who insist that this is a development in the doctrine of the Church often remark that theSecond Vatican Council did not say that the Church of Christ "is" the Catholic Church.[12] However, in another document promulgated on the same day (21 November 1964) asLumen gentium, the Council did in fact refer to "the Holy Catholic Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ" (DecreeOrientalium ecclesiarum, 2). Here the traditional conventional expression "is" is used, whose clarity can be used to interpret the potential ambiguity of the phrase "subsists in". Then again, the council's decree on Ecumenism stated that "all who have been justified by faith in Baptism are members of Christ's body",[13] although presumably including only those who, in good faith, do not pose an obstacle ("obex") to the reality of the Sacrament throughschism orheresy, asSaint Thomas Aquinas taught.
The Second Vatican Council also explicitly states that the one true Church "is" the Catholic Church in itsDecree on the Eastern Churches; thus the Council sees no essential difference, or at least views as compatible, the terms "is" and "subsists in". Claiming the identity of the Catholic Church with the body of Christ goes against the understanding presented by more liberal ecclesiologists, such asYves Congar,Georges Tavard,Joseph A. Komonchak, andFrancis A. Sullivan.[14]
These terms were not used to describe the Church either in theBaltimore Catechism of 1885 or in theCatechism of the Catholic Church of 1992. But the latter describes what is meant here when it says: "At the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory."[15] The latter two are commemorated onAll Souls' Day (November 2) andAll Saints' Day (November 1). .
Roger Haight characterizes the difference in ecclesiologies as "the contrast between a pope with universal jurisdiction and a combination of patriarchal superstructure with an episcopal and synodal communion ecclesiology analogous to that found inCyprian".[16]
According to the branch theory there are currently branches of the one Church of Christ, each holding the faith of the original undivided Church and maintaining theApostolic Succession of its bishops.[17] While some limit this to three branches,Roman Catholic,Eastern Orthodox andAnglican Communion churches, others include theOriental Orthodox,Church of the East,Old Catholic, andLutheran churches.[18] The Catholic Church has specifically condemned the Branch Theory.
Many Christian churches have nothing approximating the Catholic Sunday celebration of the Mass as sacrifice. This leads to a different understanding of the role of the minister within these churches. At the same time, the notion of thepriesthood is evolving within the Catholic church,[19] even as the understanding ofsacrifice faces development.[20][21][22]
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