The Bible and Catholic tradition have various images for describing the essence of the church. At the center of Pope Francis’s understanding of the church, corresponding to the approach of the Argentine theology of the people, stands the image of the church as the people of God (Evangelii gaudium, 111–34). It is firmly anchored in the biblical, patristic, and liturgical tradition. The Second Vatican Council renewed that understanding and presented the church as the messianic people of God (Lumen gentium, 9–12). Before long, however reservations grew loud among European theologians. One suspected a one-sided sociological, political, grassroots ecclesiology. It was different in Argentina. There the impulse of the council was eagerly seized upon and further developed into the Argentine form of liberation theology, into the theology of the people. Pope Francis imbues this ecclesiology of the people of God with concrete life.
That is not a new in itself, but is certainly a renewed view of the church, which should lead to a new style of ecclesial life. In Evangelii gaudium, Pope Francis speaks of “pastoral care in conversion.” In his speech to the bishops of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, he said very clearly what he meant by such a conversion:
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