Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 77 No. 1, 2007.
Pregledni rad
Functioning of the Parish Community Ad Extra
Josip Šimunović
orcid.org/0000-0003-0253-1393
; Katolički bogoslovni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The article discusses the functioning of the parish community ad extra, i.e. on a social level. The parish community is active ad intra in many ways: proclaiming God's word, celebrating the sacraments and other liturgical acts and charitable service. However, the parish community as a part of the society it exists in acts ad extra, i.e. on a social level. Engaging the faithful in the parish community does not exclude engagement in the social communitv.
Two facts are touched upon concerning the functioning of the parish community on a social level. The first, as part of the Church the parish community is part of a certain societv. It acts on a determined space and as such has its specific share in the growth and development of the spiritual-bodily integrity of man in the development of the spiritual-cultural ascent of society on the whole. The other fact is that according to the 2001 census 87.83% of the population expressed themselves as Catholics. Being a member of the Catholic Church does not immediately mean being a believer or in fact a practising believer either within or outside the parish communitv. Catholics can be divided into several categories of believers: practising, traditional, nominal, optional or irregularly practising, occasionally practising, practising on special occasions and non-practising. The majority of these believers are not overly present in the life and activities of the parish community. Planning pastoral activities for a parish community would be partial if it would not consider the large number of Croatian believers who practise their faith on certain occasions and with various levels of belonging to the Church and parish community. However, they too are members of the parish community and the desire to include them in the life and activities of a certain parish community. One of the possible solutions can in fact be to motivate people in this category of believers and not only them, to become active on behalf of the parish community at the social level. In that way the parish community and its members can be active apostolically and in the mission sense in society on a proclamational, educational, social-charitable and cultural-social level.
Ključne riječi
parish community; society; faithful-citizen
Hrčak ID:
23613
URI
Datum izdavanja:
17.7.2007.
Posjeta: 2.732 *