LUMEN GENTIUM: CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH

Talk 2 of 5

The teaching of the Second Vatican Council on the Church is found primarily in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium.  In this document, we discover the identity of the Church in all its manifold aspects of its mystery and structure, of its life and mission.  This document is the Keystone of the Council’s whole magisterium because it sheds light on the Church’s reality: a wonderful but complex reality consisting of human and divine elements, visible and invisible.  The Church is defined as Mystery, Communion and Mission.  Besides expounding on the identity of the Church, this talk will also draw out the implications for Church and society, with respect to identity and mission.  It will also deal with related issues eg. The identity of the bishops, the priests  and the lay faithful; the necessity of mission in the context of ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue and salvation in Non-Christian religions.