Bishop says ecclesiology Catholics need found in future, not past

Published: 2003-11-14

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Bishop Kenneth E. Untener of Saginaw, Mich., said in an address Nov. 13 that the ecclesiology -- or understanding of the church -- Catholics need is something to be found in the future rather than in the past. Delivering the keynote address on "An Ecclesiology for Our Time" to the annual convention of the National Pastoral Life Center, he said people in the church should first ask, "What are we meant to do?" and then talk about "the structures that fit what we are meant to do." The church's purpose, he said, is "to bring about the reign of God," an action that will "move the human race to a new level." Bishop Untener said an ecclesiology built on that concept is something which will come in the future, and the church now has "an emerging ecclesiology that hasn't emerged yet." Noting problems in all historical periods of the church's life, he said, "We've always needed a new ecclesiology. There's no golden age we want to go back to."

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