Vatican II

 Pope John's Opening Speech to the Council

 THE ECUMENICAL COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH

 THE ORIGIN AND REASON FOR THE SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL

 PRINCIPLE DUTY OF THE COUNCIL: THE DEFENSE AND ADVANCEMENT OF TRUTH

 HOW TO REPRESS ERRORS

 THE UNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN AND HUMAN FAMILY MUST BE PROMOTED

 DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH - Lumen gentium

 CHAPTER I THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH

 CHAPTER II THE PEOPLE OF GOD

 CHAPTER lII THE CHURCH IS HIERARCHICAL

 CHAPTER IV THE LAITY

 CHAPTER V: THE CALL TO HOLINESS

 CHAPTER VI RELIGIOUS

 CHAPTER VII THE PILGRIM CHURCH

 CHAPTER VIII OUR LADY

 I. INTRODUCTION

 II. THE FUNCTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN IN THE PLAN OF SALVATION

 III. THE BLESSED VIRGIN AND THE CHURCH

 IV. THE CULT OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN IN THE CHURCH

 V. MARY, SIGN OF TRUE HOPE AND COMFORT FOR THE PILGRIM PEOPLE OF GOD

 APPENDIX ANNOUNCEMENT MADE BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL AT THE ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THIRD GENERAL CONGREGATION 16 NOVEMBER, 1964

 PASTORAL CONSTITUTION: ON THE CHURCH IN THE MODERN WORLD - Gaudium et spes

 PREFACE

 INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT THE SITUATION OF MEN IN THE MODERN WORLD

 PART I THE CHURCH AND MAN'S CALLING

 CHAPTER I THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

 CHAPTER II THE COMMUNITY OF MANKIND

 CHAPTER III MAN'S ACTIVITY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

 CHAPTER IV THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN THE MODERN WORLD

 PART II SOME PROBLEMS OF SPECIAL URGENCY

 CHAPTER I FOSTERING THE NOBILITY OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

 CHAPTER II THE PROPER DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE

 SECTION 1 The Circumstances of Culture in the World Today

 SECTION 2 Some Principles for the Proper Development of Culture

 SECTION 3 Some More Urgent Duties of Christians in Regard to Culture

 CHAPTER III ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE

 SECTION 1 Economic Development

 SECTION 2 Certain Principles Governing Socio-Economic Life as a Whole

 CHAPTER IV THE LIFE OF THE POLITICAL COMMUNITY

 CHAPTER V THE FOSTERING OF PEACE AND THE PROMOTION OF A COMMUNITY OF NATIONS

 SECTION 1 The Avoidance of War

 SECTlON II Setting Up An International Community

 DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON DIVINE REVELATION - Dei verbum

 PREFACE

 CHAPTER I - REVELATION ITSELF

 CHAPTER II - HANDING ON DIVINE REVELATION

 CHAPTER III - SACRED SCRIPTURE, ITS INSPIRATION AND DIVINE INTERPRETATION

 CHAPTER IV - THE OLD TESTAMENT

 CHAPTER V - THE NEW TESTAMENT

 CHAPTER VI - SACRED SCRIPTURE IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH

 DECREE ON THE APOSTOLATE OF LAY PEOPLE - Apostolicam Actuositatem

 CHAPTER I THE VOCATION OF LAY PEOPLE TO THE APOSTOLATE

 FOUNDATIONS OF THE LAY APOSTOLATE

 THE SPIRITUALITY OF LAY PEOPLE

 CHAPTER II

 OBJECTIVES

 THE APOSTOLATE OF EVANGELIZATION AND SANCTIFICATION

 THE RENEWAL OF THE TEMPORAL ORDER

 CHARITABLE WORKS AND SOCIAL AID

 CHAPTER III

 THE VARIOUS FIELDS OF THE APOSTOLATE

 CHURCH COMMUNITIES

 THE FAMILY

 YOUNG PEOPLE

 APOSTOLATE OF LIKE TOWARDS LIKE

 THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS

 CHAPTER IV

 THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF THE APOSTOLATE

 INDIVIDUAL APOSTOLATE

 INDIVIDUAL APOSTOLATE IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES

 GROUP APOSTOLATE

 VARIOUS TYPES OF GROUP APOSTOLATE

 CATHOLIC ACTION

 SPECIAL COMMENDATION

 CHAPTER V

 THE ORDER TO BE OBSERVED

 RELATIONS WITH THE HIERARCHY

 RELATIONS WITH THE CLERGY AND WITH RELIGIOUS

 SPECIAL COUNCILS

 COOPERATION WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS AND NON-CHRISTIANS

 CHAPTER VI

 TRAINING FOR THE APOSTOLATE

 THE NEED FOR TRAINING

 PRINCIPLES OF TRAINING

 THOSE WHO TRAIN OTHERS FOR THE APOSTOLATE

 FIELDS CALLING FOR SPECIALIZED TRAINING

 AIDS TO TRAINING

 EXHORTATION

 THE CONSTITUTION ON THE SACRED LITURGY - Sacrosanctum Concilium

 INTRODUCTION

 CHAPTER I

 I. THE NATURE OF THE SACRED LITURGY AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH

 II. THE PROMOTION OF LITURGICAL INSTRUCTION AND ACTIVE PARTICIPATION

 III THE REFORM OF THE SACRED LITURGY

 A. General Norms

 B. Norms Drawn from the Hierarchic and Communal Nature of the Liturgy

 C. Norms Based on the Educative and Pastoral Nature of the Liturgy.

 D. NORMS FOR ADAPTING THE LITURGY TO THE TEMPERAMENT AND TRADITIONS OF PEOPLES

 E. PROMOTION OF THE LITURGICAL LIFE IN DIOCESE AND PARISH

 F. PROMOTION OF PASTORAL LITURGICAL ACTION

 CHAPTER II

 THE MOST SACRED MYSTERY OF THE EUCHARIST

 DECREES

 CHAPTER III

 THE OTHER SACRAMENTS AND THE SACRAMENTALS

 THE DIVINE OFFICE

 CHAPTER V

 THE LITURGICAL YEAR

 CHAPTER VI

 SACRED MUSIC

 CHAPTER VII

 SACRED ART AND SACRED FURNISHINGS

 APPENDIX A DECLARATION OF THE SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL ON REVISION OF THE CALENDAR

 GUIDELINES ON RELIGIOUS RELATIONS WITH THE JEWS (N.4)

 I. DIALOGUE

 II. LITURGY

 III. TEACHING AND EDUCATION

 IV. JOINT SOCIAL ACTION

 CONCLUSION

 FOOTNOTES

 DECLARATION ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM - Dignitatis humanae

 DECREE ON THE PASTORAL OFFICE OF BISHOPS IN THE CHURCH - Christus Dominus

 INTRODUCTION

 CHAPTER I

 THE BISHOPS IN THEIR RELATION TO THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH

 I. THE ROLE OF THE BISHOPS IN THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH

 II. BISHOPS AND THE APOSTOLIC SEE

 CHAPTER II

 BISHOPS IN RELATION TO THEIR OWN CHURCHES OR DIOCESES

 I. DIOCESAN BISHOPS

 II DIOCESAN BOUNDARIES

 III. THOSE WHO COOPERATE WITH THE DIOCESAN BISHOP IN HIS PASTORAL TASK

 A. Coadjutor and auxiliary bishops

 B. The diocesan curia and councils

 C. The diocesan clergy

 D. Religious

 CHAPTER III

 CONCERNING THE COOPERATION OF BISHOPS FOR THE COMMON GOD OF MANY CHURCHES

 I. SYNODS, COUNCILS AND ESPECIALLY EPISCOPAL CONFERENCES

 II. THE BOUNDARIES OF ECCLESIASTICAL PROVINCES AND THE ERECTION OF ECCLESIASTICAL REGIONS

 III. BISHOPS DISCHARGING AND INTER-DIOCESAN FUNCTION

 GENERAL DIRECTIVE

 DECREE ON THE MEANS OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION - Inter mirifica

 CHAPTER I

 CHAPTER II

 CONCLUSIONS

 DECREE ON ECUMENISM - Unitatis Redintegratio

 Introduction

 CHAPTER I CATHOLIC PRINCIPLES ON ECUMENISM

 CHAPTER II THE PRACTICE OF ECUMENISM

 CHAPTER III CHURCHES AND ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES SEPARATED FROM THE ROMAN APOSTOLIC SEE

 I. The Special Consideration of the Eastern Churches

 II. Separated Churches and Ecclesial Communities in the West

 DECREE ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES OF THE EASTERN RITE - Orientalium Ecclesiarum

 Preamble

 THE INDIVIDUAL CHURCHES OR RITES

 PRESERVATION OF THE SPIRITUAL HERITAGE OF THE EASTERN CHURCHES

 EASTERN RITE PATRIARCHS

 THE DISCIPLINE OF THE SACRAMENTS

 DIVINE WORSHIP

 RELATIONS WITH THE BRETHREN OF THE SEPARATED CHURCHES

 CONCLUSION

 DECLARATION ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Gravissimum Educationis

 Introduction

 1. The Meaning of the Universal Right to an Education

 2. Christian Education

 3. The Authors of Education

 4. Various Aids to Christian Education

 5. The Importance of Schools

 6. The Duties and Rights of Parents

 7. Moral and Religious Education in all Schools

 8. Catholic Schools

 9. Different Types of Catholic Schools

 10. Catholic Colleges and Universities

 11. Faculties of Sacred Sciences

 12. Coordination to be Fostered in Scholastic Matters

 Conclusion

 DECREE ON THE MISSION ACTIVITY OF THE CHURCH - Ad Gentes

 PREFACE

 CHAPTER I - PRINCIPLES OF DOCTRINE

 CHAPTER II MISSION WORK ITSELF

 ARTICLE 1: Christian Witness

 ARTICLE 2: Preaching the Gospel and Gathering together the People of God

 ARTICLE 3: Forming the Christian Community

 CHAPTER III - PARTICULAR CHURCHES

 CHAPTER IV MISSIONARIES

 CHAPTER V PLANNING MISSIONARY ACTIVITY

 CHAPTER VI COOPERATION

 CONCLUSION

 DECREE ON THE MINISTRY AND LIFE OF PRIESTS -- Presbyterorum ordinis

 PREFACE

 CHAPTER I - THE PRIESTHOOD IN THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH

 CHAPTER II - The Ministry of Priests

 SECTION I - Priests' Functions

 SECTION 2 - Priests' Relationships with Others

 SECTION 3 - The Distribution of Priests, and Vocations to the Priesthood

 CHAPTER III - The Life of Priests

 SECTION 1 - The Vocation of Priests to the Life of Perfection

 SECTION 2 - Special Spiritual Requirements in the Life of a Priest

 SECTION THREE - Aids to the Life of Priests

 CONCLUSION AND EXHORTATION

 DECREE ON PRIESTLY TRAINING - Optatam Totius

 I THE PROGRAM OF PRIESTLY TRAINING TO BE UNDERTAKEN BY EACH COUNTRY

 II THE URGENT FOSTERING OF PRIESTLY VOCATIONS

 III. THE SETTING UP OF MAJOR SEMINARIES

 IV. THE CAREFUL DEVELOPMENT 0F THE SPIRITUAL TRAINING

 V THE REVISION OF ECCLESIASTICAL STUDIES

 VI. THE PROMOTION OF STRICTLY PASTORAL TRAINING

 VII. TRAINING TO BE ACHIEVED AFTER THE COURSE OF STUDIES

 CONCLUSION

 Second Vatican Council II Closing Speeches and Messages

 COUNCIL CLOSING SPEECH DECEMBER 8, 1965

 COUNCIL CLOSING MESSAGES DECEMBER 8, 1965

 BY POPE PAUL TO COUNCIL FATHERS

 TO RULERS

 TO MEN OF THOUGHT AND SCIENCE

 TO ARTISTS

 TO WOMEN

 TO THE POOR, THE SICK AND THE SUFFERING

 TO WORKERS

 TO YOUTH

 APOSTOLIC BRIEF IN SPIRITU SANCTO' FOR THE CLOSING OF THE COUNCIL - DECEMBER 8, 1965

 ADAPTATION AND RENEWAL OF RELIGIOUS LIFE - Perfectae caritatis

 DECLARATION ON THE RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS - Nostra aetate

CHAPTER I - PRINCIPLES OF DOCTRINE

2. 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.[1]

This decree, however, flows from the "fount-like love" or charity of God the Father who, being the "principle without principle" from whom the Son is begotten and the Holy Spirit proceeds through the Son, freely creating us on account of His surpassing and merciful kindness and graciously calling us moreover to share with Him His life and His glory, has generously poured out, and does not cease to pour out still, His divine goodness. Thus He who created all things may at last be "all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28), bringing about at one and the same time His own glory and our happiness. But it pleased God to call men to share His life, not just singly, apart from any mutual bond, but rather to mold them into a people in which His sons, once scattered abroad, might be gathered together (cf. John 11:52).

3. This universal design of God for the salvation of the human race is carried out not only, as it were, secretly in the soul of a man, or by the attempts (even religious ones) by which in diverse ways it seeks after God, if perchance it may contact Him or find Him, though He be not far from anyone of us (cf. Acts 17:27). For these attempts need to be enlightened and healed; even though, through the kindly workings of Divine Providence, they may sometimes serve as leading strings toward God, or as a preparation for the Gospel.[2] Now God, in order to establish peace or the communion of sinful human beings with Himself, as well as to fashion them into a fraternal community, did ordain to intervene in human history in a way both new and final by sending His Son, clothed in our flesh, in order that through Him He might snatch men from the power of darkness and Satan (cf. Col. 1:13; Acts 10:38) and reconcile the world to Himself in Him (cf. 2 Cor. 5:19). Him, then, by whom He made the world,[3] He appointed heir of all things, that in Him He might restore all (cf. Eph. 1:10).

For Jesus Christ was sent into the world as a real mediator between God and men. Since He is God, all divine fullness dwells bodily in Him (Col. 2:9). According to His human nature, on the other hand, He is the new Adam, made head of a renewed humanity, and full of grace and of truth (John 1:14). Therefore the Son of God walked the ways of a true Incarnation that He might make men sharers in the nature of God: made poor for our sakes, though He had been rich, in order that His poverty might enrich us (2 Cor. 8:9). The Son of Man came not that He might be served, but that He might be a servant, and give His life as a ransom for the many--that is, for all (cf. Mark 10:45). The Fathers of the Church proclaim without hesitation that what has not been taken up by Christ is not made whole.[4] Now, what He took up was our entire human nature such as it is found among us poor wretches, save only sin (cf. Heb. 4:15; 9:28). For Christ said concerning Himself, He whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world (cf. John 10:36): "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me; to bring good news to the poor He sent me, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim to the captives release, and sight to the blind" (Luke 4:18). And again: "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10).

But what the Lord preached that one time, or what was wrought in Him for the saving of the human race, must be spread abroad and published to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), beginning from Jerusalem (cf. Luke 24:27), so that what He accomplished at that one time for the salvation of all, may in the course of time come to achieve its effect in all.

4. To accomplish this, Christ sent from the Father His Holy Spirit, who was to carry on inwardly His saving work and prompt the Church to spread out. Doubtless, the Holy Spirit was already at work in the world before Christ was glorified.[5] Yet on the day of Pentecost, He came down upon the disciples to remain with them forever (cf. John 14:16). The Church was publicly displayed to the multitude, the Gospel began to spread among the nations by means of preaching, and there was presaged that union of all peoples in the catholicity of the faith by means of the Church of the New Covenant, a Church which speaks all tongues, understands and accepts all tongues in her love, and so supersedes the divisiveness of Babel.[6] For it was from Pentecost that the "Acts of the Apostles" took origin, just as Christ was conceived when the Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin Mary, and just as Christ was impelled to the work of His ministry by the same Holy Spirit descending upon Him while He prayed.[7]

Now, the Lord Jesus, before freely giving His life for the world, did so arrange the Apostles' ministry and promise to send the Holy Spirit that both they and the Spirit might be associated in effecting the work of salvation always and everywhere.[8] Throughout all ages, the Holy Spirit makes the entire Church "one in communion and in ministering; He equips her with various gifts of a hierarchical and charismatic nature,"[9] giving life, soul-like, to ecclesiastical institutions[10] and instilling into the hearts of the faithful the same mission spirit which impelled Christ Himself. Sometimes He even visibly anticipates the Apostles' acting,[11] just as He unceasingly accompanies and directs it in different ways.[12]

5. From the very beginning, the Lord Jesus "called to Himself those whom He wished; and He caused twelve of them to be with Him, and to be sent out preaching (Mark 3:13; cf. Matt. 10:1-42). Thus the Apostles were the first budding-forth of the New Israel, and at the same time the beginning of the sacred hierarchy. Then, when He had by His death and His resurrection completed once for all in Himself the mysteries of our salvation and the renewal of all things, the Lord, having now received all power in heaven and on earth (cf. Matt. 28:18), before He was taken up into heaven (cf. Acts 1:11), founded His Church as the sacrament of salvation and sent His Apostles into all the world just as He Himself had been sent by His Father (cf. John 20:21), commanding them: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19 ff.). "Go into the whole world, preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe, shall be condemned" (Mark 16:15 ff.). Whence the duty that lies on the Church of spreading the faith and the salvation of Christ, not only in virtue of the express command which was inherited from the Apostles by the order of bishops, assisted by the priests, together with the successor of Peter and supreme shepherd of the Church, but also in virtue of that life which flows from Christ into His members: "From Him the whole body, being closely joined and knit together through every joint of the system, according to the functioning in due measure of each single part, derives its increase to the building up of itself in love" (Eph. 4:16). The mission of the Church, therefore, is fulfilled by that activity which makes her, obeying the command of Christ and influenced by the grace and love of the Holy Spirit, fully present to all men or nations, in order that, by the example of her life and by her preaching, by the sacraments and other means of grace, she may lead them to the faith, the freedom and the peace of Christ, that thus there may lie open before them a firm and free road to full participation in the mystery of Christ.

Since this mission goes on and in the course of history unfolds the mission of Christ Himself, who was sent to preach the Gospel to the poor, the Church, prompted by the Holy Spirit, must walk in the same path on which Christ walked: a path of poverty and obedience, of service and self-sacrifice to the death, from which death He came forth a victor by His resurrection. For thus did all the Apostles walk in hope, and by many trials and sufferings they filled up those things wanting to the Passion of Christ for His body which is the Church (cf. Col. 1:24). For often, the blood of Christians was like a seed.[13]

6. This duty, to be fulfilled by the order of bishops, under the successor of Peter and with the prayers and help of the whole Church, is one and the same everywhere and in every condition, even though it may be carried out differently according to circumstances. Hence, the differences recognizable in this, the Church's activity, are not due to the inner nature of the mission itself, but rather to the circumstances in which this mission is exercised.

These circumstances in turn depend sometimes on the Church, sometimes on the peoples or groups or men to whom the mission is directed. For the Church, although of itself including the totality or fullness of the means of salvation, does not and cannot always and instantly bring them all into action. Rather, she experiences beginnings and degrees in that action by which she strives to make God's plan a reality. In fact, there are times when, after a happy beginning she must again lament a set-back, or at least must linger in a certain state of unfinished insufficiency. As for the men, groups and peoples concerned, only by degrees does she touch and pervade them, and thus take them up into full catholicity. The right sort of means and actions must be suited to any state or situation.

"Missions" is the term usually given to those particular undertakings by which the heralds of the Gospel, sent out by the Church and going forth into the whole world, carry out the task of preaching the Gospel and planting the Church among peoples or groups who do not yet believe in Christ. These undertakings are brought to completion by missionary activity and are mostly exercised in certain territories recognized by the Holy See. The proper purpose of this missionary activity is evangelization, and the planting of the Church among those peoples and groups where it has not yet taken root.[14] Thus from the seed which is the word of God, particular autochthonous churches should be sufficiently established and should grow up all over the world, endowed with their own maturity and vital forces Under a hierarchy of their own, together with the faithful people, and adequately fitted out with requisites for living a full Christian life, they should make their contribution to the good of the whole Church. The chief means of the planting referred to is the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To preach this Gospel the Lord sent forth His disciples into the whole world, that being reborn by the word of God (cf. 1 Peter 1:23), men might be joined to the Church through baptism--that Church which, as the body of the Word Incarnate, is nourished and lives by the word of God and by the eucharistic bread (cf. Acts 2:43).

In this missionary activity of the Church various stages sometimes are found side by side: first, that of the beginning or planting, then that of newness or youth. When these have passed, the Church's missionary activity does not cease, but there lies upon the particular churches already set up the duty of continuing this activity and of preaching the Gospel to those still outside.

Moreover, the groups among which the Church dwells are often radically changed, for one reason or other, so that an entirely new set of circumstances may arise. Then the Church must deliberate whether these conditions might again call for her missionary activity. Besides, circumstances are sometimes such that, for the time being, there is no possibility of expounding the Gospel directly and forthwith. Then, of course, missionaries can and must at least bear witness to Christ by charity and by works of mercy, with all patience, prudence and great confidence. Thus they will prepare the way for the Lord and make Him somehow present.

Thus it is plain that missionary activity wells up from the Church's inner nature and spreads abroad her saving Faith. It perfects her Catholic unity by this expansion. It is sustained by her apostolicity. It exercises the collegial spirit of her hierarchy. It bears witness to her sanctity while spreading and promoting it. Thus, missionary activity among the nations differs from pastoral activity exercised among the faithful as well as from undertakings aimed at restoring unity among Christians. And yet these two ends are most closely connected with the missionary zeal[15] because the division among Christians damages the most holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature[16] and blocks the way to the faith for many. Hence, by the very necessity of mission, all the baptized are called to gather into one flock, and thus they will be able to bear unanimous witness before the nations to Christ their Lord. And if they are not yet capable of bearing witness to the same faith, they should at least be animated by mutual love and esteem.

7. This missionary activity derives its reason from the will of God, "who wishes all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, Himself a man, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2:4-5), "neither is there salvation in any other" (Acts 4:12). Therefore, all must be converted to Him, made known by the Church's preaching, and all must be incorporated into Him by baptism, and into the Church which is His body. For Christ Himself, "by stressing in express language the necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mark 16:16; John 3:5), at the same time confirmed the necessity of the Church, into which men enter by baptism, as by a door. Therefore those men cannot be saved, who though aware that God, through Jesus Christ, founded the Church as something necessary, still do not wish to enter into it, or to persevere in it."[17] Therefore, though God in ways known to Himself can lead those inculpably ignorant of the Gospel to find that faith without which it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6), yet a necessity lies upon the Church (1 Cor. 9:16), and at the same time a sacred duty, to preach the Gospel. And hence missionary activity today as always retains its power and necessity.

By means of this activity, the mystical Body of Christ unceasingly gathers and directs its forces toward its own growth (cf. Eph. 4:11-16). The members of the Church are impelled to carry on such missionary activity by reason of the love with which they love God and by which they desire to share with all men the spiritual goods of both this life and the life to come. Finally, by means of this missionary activity, God is fully glorified, provided that men fully and consciously accept His work of salvation, which He has accomplished in Christ. In this way and by this means, the plan of God is fulfilled--that plan to which Christ conformed with loving obedience for the glory of the Father who sent Him,[18] that the whole human race might form one people of God and be built up into one temple of the Holy Spirit which, being the expression of brotherly harmony, corresponds with the inmost wishes of all men. And so at last, there will be realized the plan of our Creator, who formed man to His own image and likeness, when all who share one human nature, regenerated in Christ through the Holy Spirit and beholding the glory of God, will be able to say with one accord: "Our Father."[19]

8. Missionary activity is closely bound up even with human nature itself and its aspirations. For by manifesting Christ the Church reveals to men the real truth about their condition and their whole calling, since Christ is the source and model of that redeemed humanity, imbued with brotherly love, sincerity and a peaceful spirit, to which they all aspire. Christ and the Church, which bears witness to Him by preaching the Gospel, transcend every peculiarity of race or nation and therefore cannot be considered foreign anywhere or to anybody.[20] Christ Himself is the way and the truth, which the preaching of the Gospel opens to all in proclaiming in the hearing of all these words of Christ: "Repent, and believe the Gospel" ( Mark 1:15). Now, since he who does not believe is already judged (cf. John 3:18), the words of Christ are at one and the same time words of judgment and of grace, of death and of life. For it is only by putting to death what is old that we are able to approach the newness of life. This is true first of all about persons, but it holds also for the various goods of this world which bear the mark both of man's sin and of God's blessing: "For all have sinned and have need of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:28). No one is freed from sin by himself and by his own power, no one is raised above himself, no one is completely rid of his sickness or his solitude or his servitude.[21] On the contrary, all stand in need of Christ, their model, their mentor, their liberator, their Saviour, their source of life. The Gospel has truly been a leaven of liberty and progress in human history, even in the temporal sphere, and always proves itself a leaven of brotherhood, of unity and of peace. Not without cause is Christ hailed by the faithful as "the expected of the nations, and their Saviour."[22]

9. And so the time for missionary activity extends between the first coming of the Lord and the second, in which latter the Church will be gathered from the four winds like a harvest into the kingdom of God.[23] For the Gospel must be preached to all nations before the Lord shall come (cf. Mark 13:10).

Missionary activity is nothing else and nothing less than an epiphany, or a manifesting of God's decree, and its fulfilment in the world and in world history, in the course of which God, by means of mission, manifestly works out the history of salvation. By the preaching of the word and by the celebration of the sacraments, the center and summit of which is the most holy Eucharist, He brings about the presence of Christ, the author of salvation. But whatever truth and grace are to be found among the nations, as a sort of secret presence of God, He frees from all taint of evil and restores to Christ its maker, who overthrows the devil's domain and wards off the manifold malice of vice. And so, whatever good is found to be sown in the hearts and minds of men, or in the rites and cultures peculiar to various peoples, not only is not lost, but is healed, uplifted, and perfected for the glory of God, the shame of the demon, and the bliss of men.[24] Thus, missionary activity tends toward eschatological fulness.[25] For by it the people of God is increased to that measure and time which the Father has fixed in His power (cf. Acts 1:7). To this people it was said in prophecy: "Enlarge the space for your tent, and spread out your tent cloths unsparingly" (Is. 54:2).[26] By missionary activity, the mystical body grows to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:13); and the spiritual temple, where God is adored in spirit and in truth (cf. John 4:23), grows and is built up upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the supreme corner stone (Eph. 2:20).