The Pastoral Ministry in Europe »wind–swept« due to Modern Man’s Changed Needs

Abstract

The Church’s directedness toward people’s needs is no coincidence, but rather a necessity. The eternal question again: Was the Sabbath made for man or man for the Sabbath? The path that Christ walked is the path of ministering to mankind. Precisely this is also the task of the Church, rather than a purposeless self–preservation of the ecclesial machinery. In essence the Church remains the same divine–human institution and a salvific event only if its activity is adapted to time and space. The article first cites several lines from the Holy Scripture and from ecclesial documents in which directedness toward man’s needs is explicit. Then the article points out the basic characteristics of postmodern man with the intent to ultimately define the requirements of the »modern« Church’s pastoral ministry in the European region.