Pope Paul VI stressed the importance of the church's self-knowledge in his first encyclical letter, Ecclesiam Suam:We are convinced that the Church must look with penetrating eyes within itself, ponder the mystery of its own being, and draw enlightenment and inspiration from a deeper scrutiny of the doctrine of its own origin, nature, mission, and destiny.
[7] The council's decree on ecumenism, Unitatis redintegratio, declares that “The Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using [separated churches and communities] as a means of salvation” (para.
[8] This goes beyond the statement in Mystici corporis Christi that says of non-Catholics that “by an unconscious desire and longing they have a certain relationship with the Mystical Body of the Redeemer” (para.
Pius XII can be said to have popularized the notion of the Church as the Body of Christ, which was already present in the writings of Saint Paul in the New Testament.
“People” avoids membership disputes: there are various ways of association; see "Body of Christ" above, which comes from this chapter.
By these gifts He makes them fit and ready to undertake the various tasks and offices which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the Church" (12).
Subsistit in is a term taken from Lumen gentium paragraph 8, and is intended to acknowledge that ecclesial elements of the Catholic Church can also be found elsewhere:[11] This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible structure.The theological commission has stated that "the elements which are mentioned concern not only individuals but their communities as well; in this fact precisely is located the foundation of the ecumenical movement.
[12] However, in another document promulgated on the same day (21 November 1964) as Lumen gentium, the Council did in fact refer to "the Holy Catholic Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ" (Decree Orientalium ecclesiarum, 2).
Claiming the identity of the Catholic Church with the body of Christ goes against the understanding presented by more liberal ecclesiologists, such as Yves Congar, George Tavard, Joseph A. Komonchak, and Francis A.