I had my first article published on Crux today. Here’s the first lines; read the rest there.
Throughout the history of the Church, God has bestowed gifts upon individuals for the benefit of all. Some of these are through the sacrament of orders and some are charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit independent of the sacrament of orders. These two types of gifts sometimes find themselves in opposition, but Iuvenescit Ecclesia points out how they should work together.
Iuvenescit Ecclesia builds on existing documents. It finds inspiration in several documents on the mission of the Church in the world, notably Lumen Gentium of Vatican II and Francis’s Evangelii Gauidium. Since it deals primarily with charisms of the laity, it harkens back to Vatican II’s Apostolican Actuositatem and John Paul II’s Christifideles Laici.
Finally, it is an expansion of Mutuae Relationes, which dealt with similar themes but between religious and bishops rather than movements and new communities.
To keep the Vatican’s voice above my own, I will summarize mainly with direct quotations as I go through the 5 chapters.
