What Is a Lumen Gentium?
The Lumen Gentium is an ecclesiastical document that was created during the Second Vatican Council. This was a meeting of the leadership of the Catholic Church and facilitated by Pope Paul VI. This document was presented to the public on November 21, 1964. The Lumen Gentium is also called the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.
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Vatican II
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The second Vatican Council that originated the Lumen Gentium sat from 1961 to 1965. It was called to help the church find an identity in a secularized and divided world. It was significantly different from prior Roman Catholic leadership's approach to problems. The Council affirmed individual conscience in spiritual matters and liberalized the control of the hierarchy over individuals. One of the most important achievements to come out of the meetings was the Lumen Gentium.
Description
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Lumen Gentium means "light of the world" in Latin. It is named from the first line of the document, as is the tradition in Catholicism. This document was approved by the assembled bishops by a vote of 2,151 to five and then received the seal of Pope Paul VI. The Lumen Gentium caused a stir because it acknowledged that others who were not Catholic could still be Christian. A direct quote from the Lumen Gentium states, "the Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christ, but who do not however profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter".
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Controversy
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This was controversial in that prior to this, the Catholic church was The Christian church. An opening toward Protestantism was very difficult to accept among traditionalist Catholics. Another quote from the document that supported this new idea and caused dissension among the members of the Catholic church is as follows: "This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him" The document immediately adds: "Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines."
Sections
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The Lumen Gentium contains eight sections. These sections cover the Church, people of God, the hierarchical structure of the Church, the laity, the universal call to holiness, the religious, eschatological church (end times) and the Virgin Mary. One of the other sections that was also significant was the chapter on holiness. It declared that sanctity did not belong just to priests, but that all Christians were called to be holy.
Virgin Mary
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The section that discussed Mary also garnered some debate. Those who wanted the document to be more ecumenical in tone to not offend Protestant Christians wanted the discussion of Mary to be in a separate document. The veneration of Mary was considered suspicious by Protestants. The Pope and many of the council leaders disagreed and won. They felt that Mary was an important part of the church and as such, should be addressed in the Lumen Gentium.
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References
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