PREZBITERSKA SLUŽBA I SOCIJALNO POSLANJE CRKVE
THE MINISTRY OF PRESBYTER AND THE SOCIAL MISSION OF THE CHURCH

Summary/Abstract: The search for an answer to the question of the presbyter’s role in the social mission of the Church leads the author first to an analysis of the relationship between the general mission of the Church, namely to evangelize and sanctify, and its social mission in the world. The answer to this question is important in regard to the general tendency to define religion as something pertaining to the sphere of private life as well as in regard to the definition of the presbyter’s service and mission within the believing community. After introducing the actual status of the Church’s teaching regarding this relationship, based primarily on Vatican II and the most important postconciliar documents, the author concludes that the social mission of the Church constitutes an integral part of her mission and should not be considered as a secondary effect of evangelization. Building on this conclusion, the author further explores the question of the presbyter’s role in the social mission of the Church. The major argument is that the presbyter’s mission in the social area consists precisely in performing his threefold ministry: priest as minister of God’s Word, as minister of the Sacraments and the Eucharist, and as leader of God’s people. In performing his ministry, the presbyter is not called merely to a spiritual way of acting and leading the community towards the eschatological realization of God’s kingdom. On the contrary, his whole ministry should also include the social aspect. From this assertion, the work seeks to explore more deeply the ministry of preaching in regard to social questions, and the possibility of celebrating and experiencing the Eucharist in its social dimension and of leading the Christian community with the preferential option for the poor.

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