Sacramentality, a Necessary and Permanent Dimension of the Church and Its Implications for Ecumenical Dialogue

Abstract

On the 60th anniversary of the celebration of the Second Vatican Council, we would like to take up again a statement from the constitution Lumen gentium, which was a source of controversy from the moment it was proposed in the schema De Ecclesia during the Council: «The Church is in Christ, like a sacrament, a sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the entire humankind» (Lumen gentium, 1). In this article, we want to take up the concept of the Church as a sacrament, which emerged from the conciliar constitution on the Church, as a first step, although the conception of the Church as a sacrament is found in ecclesiology before the Second Vatican Council. Second, we will focus on the reception of this concept and its development after the Council. We will conclude with a third part devoted to its implications for ecumenical dialogue and the difficulties and possibilities for convergence it offers, with particular reference to the document of the Faith and Order Commission: The Church towards a Common Vision (2013).