The Church of The Future

The article deals with the question of the shape of the Church of the future by tracing a route with crossroads and outlining, in the wake of Vatican II, a process of Church conversion in four stages (with four theological criteria) that will enable tomorrow’s Church to appear, the principal architect of which is the holy Spirit. The article puts forward four theological criteria: (1) ‘pastorality’; (2) ‘Gospel-inspired reform’;
(3) ecumenism and mission; (4) ‘charismatic and hierarchical gifts’, rearranged by the experience of listening to the ‘understanding of the faithful’ in a synodal process.

Asking questions about the Church of the future might be suspected of being no more than an expression of anxiety from a few Christians on the ‘old continent’, Europe, troubled by the rapid decline of a brilliant tradition that was once dominant. But the question is also relevant in Africa, Asia and America North and South, though each time in a very specific form and no doubt different from the way it is posed at the heart of Mediterranean culture. Awareness of this diversity makes us recognize the limitations of these brief reflections, but also respect the need to formulate common theological criteria that will enable us to outline even now a future vision for the universal Church.