Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 92 No. 3, 2022.
Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.53745/bs.92.3.1
Transformation of the Priesthood in the Changing Times
Michelina Tenace
; Papinsko sveučilište Gregoriana, Rim, Italija
Sažetak
The article starts by reflecting on the testimony of the Church, which always requires renewal according to the time in which different communities live. The first part of the article identifies three models of the Church that have followed one another from the first centuries of Christianity to the time immediately preceding the Second Vatican Council. The Church as mystery, the Church as empire and the Church as institution are the three models of the Church that in broad strokes marked the first two millennia of Christianity. This first part of the article ends with an invitation to avoid the temptation of traditionalism, which is a wrong form of fidelity to the past that risks stifling a truth waiting to be accepted. This truth is the theme of the second part of the article, which presents the new image of the Church as communion that was inaugurated with the Second Vatican Council, thanks to the return to the sources and the renewal based on present needs. The Church as communion is then placed in relation to synodality and universal brotherhood in the light of Pope Francis’s encyclical Fratelli tutti. In fact, the current path of a synodal Church corresponds to the orientation given by the Second Vatican Council because it relies on the active participation of all in the Church’s mission, and brotherhood is an even stronger expression of communion because, in the Pope’s vision, it pushes towards a global communion, outside the institutional and confessional enclosure. Finally, the third part of the article presents the symposium ‘For a Fundamental Theology of the Priesthood’ which was held in Vatican City from 17 to 19 February 2022 and which reflected on the priesthood starting from the one priesthood of Christ and in connection with the people of God who all have a share in the baptismal priesthood. Starting from this foundation, two topical issues are briefly addressed, namely the formation of future priests, which must be more oriented towards fraternity, and celibacy, which must be addressed in the context of discernment and a life that knows how to make sacrifice fruitful.
Ključne riječi
priesthood; Fratelli tutti; synodality; communion; celibacy
Hrčak ID:
295703
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.3.2023.
Posjeta: 469 *