Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 95 No. 3, 2025.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.53745/bs.95.3.3
The Pastoral of Hope in the Light of the Ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council: Ecclesiological and Liturgical Perspectives in Parish Pastoral Practice
Hrvoje Zovko
; Parish of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross – Kravarsko, Diocese of Sisak, Kravarkso, Coratia
Abstract
The proclamation of death, the celebration of the resurrection, and the expectation of the coming of Jesus Christ are interwoven, permeate and guide the entire activity of the Church. The expectation of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the foundation of Christian hope, which ardently awaits the final fulfilment of the mystery of God’s love. Although hope has guided the Church throughout history, the impetus for a new pastoral enthusiasm, imbued with hope, was formed in the 1960s, with the Second Vatican Council. Pastoral postulates inspired by hope have been undergoing modifications in light of the new reflections on ecclesiology and liturgy. Considering that ecclesiological changes affect the liturgy, and that they both direct and guide the activity of the Church, the Council, in continuity with tradition, reflected on these issues more deeply and systematically than at any previous time. Unlike earlier councils, the Council was not convened because of heresy or doctrinal disputes, but rather to reflect on the presence of the Church in the modern world. Despite significant advances that have been made, it is still possible to apply the Council’s liturgical-ecclesiological heritage, such as the ecclesiology of communion and the universal call to holiness, for the Church’s work to be truly a »pastoral of hope«. In this regard, the article directs attention to concrete pastoral projects of one parish, where the practical contours of the pastoral hope are manifested through the realization of the universal call to holiness and the active participation shaped in the spirit of the Council.
Keywords
holiness; ecclesiology; parish; active participation; liturgy; hope
Hrčak ID:
336777
URI
Publication date:
29.10.2025.
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