THE ESCHATOLOGICAL DIMENSION OF THE CHURCH IN THE LIGHT OF THE CONSTITUTION LUMEN GENTIUM

Abstract

The second Vatican council, besides its outstanding pastoral value, has a remarkable doctrinal richness as well, which also concerns the current state of eschatology. In Chapter seven of the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium we find the first organic and complete magisterial presentation of catholic eschatology after a long period of silence stretching back to the time of the council of Trent. Lumen Gentium’s broad eschatological view can be read in the light of four transversal and interconnected themes: Christocentrism, the Kingdom, the Communion of Saints and the virtue of Christian Hope. In this way, the second Vatican council has assimilated the theologi-cal sensibility of the twentieth century, incorporating it into the millennial tradition of the Church.