Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) -Vatican II affirms clearly in the documents Lumen Gentium and Ad Gentes, that mission is intrinsic to the Church. The basic statement is: “ The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father” (AG 2. Cfr. AG 5.6.9.10; LG 8.13.17.23; CD 6). Missionary activity, like the Church herself, is therefore directly connected with the mission of the Trinitarian God. Lumen Gentium speaks of the same connection between Christ and the Church when it says that she is a reflection of Christ's light and her task is to radiate this light to all people (LG 1). The image of the light is integrated by that of a sacrament: “the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race,” (LG 1).
So the identity of the Church is centred in Christ and as such she is not only a sign of communion with God and of the unity of humanity, she is also a means to realise that communion and unity. Hence the necessity of the Church for salvation, as it has been expressed in history through the axiom "Outside the Church there is no salvation", axiom which in its contents is affirmed by Vatican II: " it [the Council] teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an exile, is necessary for salvation. Christ, present to us in His Body, which is the Church, is the one Mediator and the unique way of salvation. In explicit terms He Himself affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism(124) and thereby affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through baptism as through a door men enter the Church. Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved" (LG 14).
Since “ all men are called by the grace of God to salvation.” (LG 13), the Church is the universal sacrament of salvation. But for this will for universal salvation to be fully realised, “the Church, because of her Catholicity and her founder, strives to announce the Gospel to all men and women”, since the missionary vocation is part of her being (cf. AG 2; LG 17; GS 40, AA 2).
The Decree on the Church's missionary activity, Ad gentes, can be considered complementary to the Constitution Lumen gentium, since it says that through her missionary activity the Church strives to achieve her ideal as a universal sacrament of salvation. The Decree, while acknowledging that God can bring all men to the faith through unknown paths, says that “ a necessity lies upon the Church (1 Cor. 9:16), and at the same time a sacred duty, to preach the Gospel.” (AG 7).
We can therefore conclude that the Second Vatican Council highlighted the Trinitarian origin of the Church and her mission. The Church exists not of herself or for herself: she is the extension in time and space of the presence of Christ and of His mission, which in turn come from the love of the Father and are brought to completion through the power of the Spirit. The mystery of the communion of the Trinity becomes thus, origin, model, goal and mission. The Church is called by nature to go out of herself towards the world to be a sign and a tool, the presence of God's love and salvation, expressed in the Word, celebrated in the Liturgy, witnessed and actuated in service to man and the world for the manifestation and the spread of the Kingdom. Mission lies at the very heart of the Church and pervades her completely, it is her reason for existing. (4 - to be continued) (Agenzia Fides 20/11/2007; righe 43, parole 655)
