Second Vatican Ecumenical Council
DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH - LUMEN GENTIUM
Promulgated By His Holiness, Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964
CHAPTER I THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH
1. Christ is the light of humanity; and it is, accordingly, the heart- felt
desire of this sacred Council, being gathered together in the Holy Spirit, that
by proclaiming his Gospel to every creature (cf. Mk. 16:15), it may bring to all
men that light of Christ which shines out visibly from the Church. Since the
Church, in Christ, is in the nature of sacrament--a sign and instrument, that
is, of communion with God and of unity among all men--she here purposes, for the
benefit of the faithful and of the whole world, to set forth, as clearly as
possible, and in the tradition laid down by earlier Councils, her own nature and
universal mission. The condition of the modern world lends greater urgency to
this duty of the Church; for, while men of the present day are drawn ever more
closely together by social, technical and cultural bonds, it still remains for
them to achieve full unity in Christ.
2. The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious
design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe, and chose to
raise up men to share in his own divine life- and when they had fallen in Adam,
he did not abandon them, but at all times held out to them the means of
salvation bestowed in consideration of Christ, the Redeemer, "who is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature" and predestined before
time began "to become conformed to the image of his Son, that he should be the
firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). He determined to call ]l together in
a holy Church those who should believe in Christ. Already present in figure at
the beginning of the world, this Church was prepared in marvellous fashion in
the history of the people of Israel and in the o]d Alliance.[1] Established in
this last age of the world, and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit,
it will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time. At that moment. as
the Fathers put it, all the just from the time of Adam, "from Abel, the just
one, to the last of the elect"[2] will be gathered together with the Father in
the universal Church.
3. The Son, accordingly, came, sent by the Father who, before the foundation of
the world, chose us and predestined us in him for adoptive sonship. For it is in
him that it pleased the Father to restore all things (cf. Eph. 1:4-5 and 10). To
carry out the will of the Father Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on
earth and revealed to us his mystery; by his obedience he brought about our
redemption. The Church-- that is, the kingdom of Christ--already present in
mystery, grows visibly through the power of God in the world. The origin and
growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the
open side of the crucified Jesus (cf. Jn. 19:34), and are foretold in the words
of the Lord referring to his death on the cross: "And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men to myself" (Jn. 12:32; Gk.). As often as the
sacrifice of the cross by which "Christ our Pasch is sacrificed" (1 Cor. 5:7) is
celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out. Likewise, in
the sacrament of the eucharistic bread, the unity of believers, who from one
body in Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 10:17), is both expressed and brought about. All men
are called to this union with Christ, who is the light of the world, from whom
we go forth, through whom we live, and towards whom our whole life is directed.
4. When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth (cf. Jn. 17:4) was
accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he
might continually sanctify the Church, and that, consequently, those who believe
might have access through Christ in one Spirit to the Father (cf. Eph. 2:18). He
is the Spirit of life, the fountain of water springing up to eternal life (cf.
Jn. 4:47; 7:38-39). To men, dead in sin, the Father gives life through him,
until the day when, in Christ, he raises to life their mortal bodies (cf. Rom.
8:10- 11). The Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful, as
in a temple (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19). In them he prays and bears witness to their
adoptive sonship (cf. Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:1516 and 26). Guiding the Church in the
way of all truth (cf. Jn. 16:13) and unifying her in communion and in the works
of ministry, he bestows upon her varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in
this way directs her; and he adorns her with his fruits (cf. Eph. 4:11-12; 1
Cor. 12:4; Gal. 5:22). By the power of the Gospel he permits the Church to keep
the freshness of youth. Constantly he renews her and leads her to perfect union
with her Spouse.[3] For the Spirit and the Bride both say to Jesus, the Lord:
"Come!" (cf. Apoc. 22:17).
Hence the universal Church is seen to be "a people brought into unity from the
unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."[4]
5. The mystery of the holy Church is already brought to light in the way it was
founded. For the Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News,
that is, the coming of the kingdom of God, promised over the ages in the
scriptures: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mk.
1:15; Mt. 4:17). This kingdom shone out before men in the word, in the works and
in the presence of Christ. The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is
sown in a field (Mk. 4:14); those who hear it with faith and are numbered among
the little flock of Christ (Lk. 12:32) have truly received the kingdom. Then, by
its own power the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest (cf. Mk. 4:26-29).
The miracles of Jesus also demonstrate that the kingdom has already come on
earth: "If I cast out devils by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has
come upon you" (Lk. 11:20; cf. Matt. 12:28). But principally the kingdom is
revealed in the person of Christ himself, Son of God and Son of-Man, who came
"to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk. 10:45).
When Jesus, having died on the cross for men, rose again from the dead, he was
seen to be constituted as Lord, the Christ, and as Priest for ever (cf. Acts
2:36; Heb. 5:6; 7: 17-21), and he poured out on his disciples the Spirit
promised by the Father (cf. Acts 2:23). Henceforward the Church, endowed with
the gifts of her founder and faithfully observing his precepts of charity,
humility and self-denial, receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing
among all peoples the kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is, on earth, the
seed and the beginning of that kingdom. While she slowly grows to maturity, the
Church longs for the completed kingdom and, with all her strength, hopes and
desires to be united in glory with her king.
6. In the Old Testament the revelation of the kingdom is often made under the
forms of symbols. In similar fashion the inner nature of the Church is now made
known to us in various images. Taken either from the life of the shepherd or
from cultivation of the land, from the art of building or from family life and
marriage, these images have their preparation in the books of the prophets.
The Church is, accordingly, a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which
is Christ (Jn. 10:1-10). It is also a flock, of which God foretold that he would
himself be the shepherd (cf. Is. 40:11; Ex. 34:11 f.), and whose sheep, although
watched over by human shepherds, are nevertheless at all times led and brought
to pasture by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and prince of shepherds (cf. Jn.
10:11; 1 Pet. 5:4), who gave his life for his sheep (cf. Jn. 10:11-16).
The Church is a cultivated field, the tillage of God (1 Cor. 3:9). On that land
the ancient olive tree grows whose holy roots were ...
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