IDENTITY AND THE LAY VOCATION: A HISTORICAL APPROACH

Abstract

The gradual process of “ecclesial involution”, when compared with the renewal of the Second Vatican Council, was introduced in the Church during the last three decades. Although it was officially halted with Pope Francis' election, it has led to the return of clericalism, demanding that theology reconsider the question of lay identity and vocation. This study intends to approach the issue historically, looking at two important references, namely, the patristic period and the Second Vatican Council's “return to the sources”. This historical return on the tradition of the church has shown the incompatibility of Christianity between a Church structured around the binary of clergy-laity and a Church resting on the binary of community-ministries, the normative ecclesial neo-testamentary model.