The purpose of this thesis is "How shall we see about the apostolate of lay people?" Although the Vatican Council II (hereafter the Council) declared that the Church should be, with the slogan 'aggiornamento', a living one in the contemporary world, i...
The purpose of this thesis is "How shall we see about the apostolate of lay people?" Although the Vatican Council II (hereafter the Council) declared that the Church should be, with the slogan 'aggiornamento', a living one in the contemporary world, it cannot deny that she is still on a negative position.
As a matter of fact, the modern society comes down to the secularism which is influenced by the materialism and the religious unconcern, so that such a phenomena would penetrate into the Church. In this sense, this thesis tries to re-examine the Church's teaching on the apostolate the laity to renew the modern world in Christ.
The prior works before investigating on this core subject on this study are, at first, to understand on each concepts of "lay people," and "the apostolate." The Council renovated the identity of the laity, defining the Church as people of God, and then the Council describes the identity of the laity as that "those who are called by God in order to make of their apostolate, living in the midst of the world and of secular affairs." The Council regards the laity as the Church in the midst of the world.
The apostolate would be succeeded by the whole Church as mentioned in New Testament. That is because the Church is the apostolic one that there is no exception to follow in the Lord's walk. The Council, in fact, returned the apostolate to the laity which has been treated as an object of the pastorate since early Church era.
Then, in Chapter III, the general understanding on the apostolate of lay people focusing on the decree of the Council, "Apostolicam actuositatem (hereafter AA)."
The decree stresses out the foundation of the apostolate of lay people is the baptism as the entrance Sacrament for Christian. And the decree, by its secular character, indicates the aim of the apostolate of the laity is the proclamation of Gospel and the consecration, and the range of the apostolate of the laity also implies all situation and areas which they can face with: the family, society, international and domestic area. In fact, what the decree stresses out is the prime mission of the laity is to evangelize the world, that is, the apostolate heads for external and international way.
In final Chapter IV, focused on Christifideles Laici, the apostolic exhortation of the Pope John Paul II, roles of the laity are examined such as the evangelization, the human dignity, and the significance of matrimony and the family, the life of political community, etc.
However, even though the Church have affirmatively emphasized the mission of the laity since the Council, the reality of the laity remains the negative and personal level which is subordinated by the clergy. The reason is that the laity did not recognize themselves as the host who leads toward the evangelization and the secular world and the Church. Without the recognition of the laity on the apostolate, the world cannot keep on the order that God created and as well as the Church cannot be the Sacrament of the salvation that the Council declared. In other words, without the affirmative cooperation of the laity, not only the Church but also the world never free from the secularization.
Therefore, the renovation of the laity on the mission of the Church is only way to solve the problems in the contemporary world and is the most fundamental task for becoming the living Church in the world. Consequently, the laity should deeply recognize the precepts of the Council on their proper mission as following.
"The term 'laity' is.... the faithful who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ, are placed in the People of God, and in their own way share the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ, and to the best of their ability carry on the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world. (Lumen Gentium, no 31)"
"The laity, however, are given this special vocation: to make the Church present and fruitful in those places and circumstances where it is only through them that she can become the salt of the earth. (Lumen Gentium, no 33)"