Who is the Church?

I appreciated Susan’s posting on the question about who is the Church. There are folks who are puzzled by the fact that they see themselves as the Church but deny others the same opportunities they assert for themselves. In September of this year Susan’s University of St. Thomas is hosting a several day symposium entitled “Vatican II: Teaching and Understanding of the Council after Fifty Years.” I will be presenting a paper that addresses the issue which Susan and several of her commenters discuss in a variety of ways: who is the Church? In addition, I plan on exploring what the Council understood the interlinking roles of the different groups who constitute the Church, namely, the bishops, the clergy, the religious, and the laity. In order to accomplish this task, a careful and objective reading of the documents dealing with these groups along with the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) and the Declaration on Religious Freedom (Dignitatis Humanae) are in order. As these documents have both normative and juridical dimensions, it is my objective to demonstrate that they must be read together in order to understand in a coherent fashion who is the Church. I do not anticipate that my project will please everyone, but that is not what is important. What is important is that the case is made that the answer to the question “who is the Church” can be answered by any person of good will. I think Susan has made an important step in this undertaking.

RJA sj