Fundamentos para la Formación de los Laicos en la Iglesia a la Luz del Concilio Vaticano II, el Magisterio Post-Conciliar y las Conferencias Generales del Episcopado Latinoamericano y Caribeño

Abstract

The Church has the mission of announcing the Word of God for the salvation of the humankind; the fulfillment of this task is a commitment of the whole People of God (priests, religious and laity). The main topic of this dissertation is the laity and their key role related to the sanctification of the world. The laity, as baptized people, share the priestly, prophetic and royal function of Christ, derived from the sacramental participation. What is characteristic of the ecclesial condition of the laity is their secular nature that allows them to carry out various tasks: managing temporal affairs and ordering them according to God, and proclaiming Christ with the their testimony of life, contributing to the transformation of human structures. The magisterium of the Church in recent decades has considered that the laity, in order to carry out their duties, must be formed in a Christian way, since by maturing better their faith, they become capable of shining the world with the light of the Gospel, in the midst of temporal affairs: family, study, work, political and social participation, among others. The Second Vatican Council, the Post-conciliar Magisterium and the Latin American and Caribbean Catholic Bishops' Conferences play a key role on giving guidelines to the laity formation.