next article in this issue  |
|
Document Details : Title: Sens et limites de la ritualité des sacraments en postchrétienté occidentale Author(s): JOIN-LAMBERT, Arnaud Journal: Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses Volume: 85 Issue: 1 Date: 2009 Pages: 1-22 DOI: 10.2143/ETL.85.1.2040691 Abstract : In Western Europe and Quebec, Christian Churches and communities are experiencing an unprecedented crisis in their pastoral, sacramental life. The shift becomes inevitably more marked by the convictions of the pastors and the Christians most engaged in the parishes on the one hand, and on the other, the expectations of those who ask for sacraments or other, non-sacramental liturgies. This theological and pastoral question is not new but is becoming increasingly frequent and complex. This article wants to contribute to anthropological, theological and pastoral research. After enumerating the anthropological preconditions concerning the change of the rituality and its effects on the symbolic (I.), a short sociological reflection, supported by empirical research, enriches the matter (II.). After this follows a properly theological enquiry. There are two possible and coherent orientations, both following different aspects of the theological tradition. Everything depends on which starting point one takes: the sacrament itself as an element of a system (III.1. and III.2.) or people engaged at every moment in the continuing of Christian revelation (III.3. and III.4.). The conclusion examines the possibilities of pastoral care in any ritual and sacramental request. |
|
