The Church as a Dynamic Field of Priestly, Prophetic and Diaconal Tension

Abstract

On the background of sociological and theological analyses of the transformations of the religious field and of the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America, this article sketches a proposal for a practical ecclesiology. This ecclesiology understands the church as a dynamic field of tension between priestly, prophetic and diaconal expressions. These fundamental expressions of the church parallel Christ’s threefold role as King, high priest and prophet. Combining P. Bourdieu’s theory of the religious field with N. M. Healy’s call for a practical-prophetical ecclesiology, the article argues that the changes in the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America can be understood as a re-articulation of the church’s prophetic and diaconal dimensions. The apparent disorder and tension hereby created can in fact be the starting point for a constructive, practical ecclesiology, which is able to make sense of the often disharmonious character of ecclesial life.