Pregledni rad
Council as the end of layman's subjection
Petar Barun
Sažetak
From the perspective of laymen, the Second Vatican Council may be called a laic exodus. In the very beginnings of the Church, Christians considered themselves equal. They called themselves holy, disciples, brothers, but never laymen. Such equal co-relationship, a value system, a dignity of a person, has never been noted in the history. In the early 3rd century, when the notion of a layman began to be used more frequently in the Christian literature, as opposed to the notion of the clergy, the initial differentiation between the clergy and the laymen within the Christian community did not abolish equality and communitarity between them. By the reform of Constantine in the 4th century, a central issue was the structuring of the Church: bishops, priests and deacons were gradually taking over those powers that were in the domain of civil authority. Since that time, a layman has been defined in a negative way: he or she is not a member of the clergy, he or she has no power in the Church, he or she is not a monk, as he or she lives in the world. Redefining of laymen in documents of the Second Vatican Council was characterised as a Copernican shift in the new concept of the Church. By returning to sources, the Council, after millennium-long negligence of laymanship, rehabilitated its role and the place of believers - laymen in the Church and in the modern world. The question to what degree the Council was successfully implemented may only be competently answered on the basis of scientific research. There has been no such research in Croatia. Laymen initiatives in the post-Council period are mostly measurable through activities of modern church movements. They find new paths of evangelization in the post-modern society. However, modern post-Council developments of laymanship did not result in networking of layman's potential, nor were they accompanied by a meaningful and systematic work at the national level. Therefore, we are constantly facing a significant lack of engaged lay believers in all layers of society. Social changes are increasingly indicating the necessity for a conscious, well-established and mature laymanship in the world. It is fortunate that the said circumstances will surely encourage the Church even more to self-examination and to a more significant investment into the formation of laymen. Development of human potentials will have to become a challenge for the Church, if it wishes to transmit a lively religion to future generations. Generally speaking, it may be said that without a Council discovery of the authentic concept of laymen, the affirmation of lay believers would not be possible today in scientific, cultural, political and other domains of modern society. A chasm between the Church and a post-modern man is enormous. Bridges are to be built which are to link the highest theological reflexions from the Christian faith of alienated, post-modern man. The clergy itself cannot do this independently. Although the Council opened the door wide open to laymen, it should not go unnoticed that Council's documents on laymen have been written by the clergy. This was however, despite everything, a clerical view on the role of laymen in the Church and modern society. Nevertheless, this claim does not diminish the contribution of the Council. Christian laymen are invited, with their creative engagement, to give answers to issues which are close and particular to them. Anchored in the spirit of the Council, they have the commitment to decisively state their views on the Church and the world, to participate as co-architects, co-performers, and co-holders of the renovation of the Church and the society.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
83564
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.12.2005.
Posjeta: 1.536 *