The Pact of the Catacombs as a Pathway for a Poor-Servant Church
On 16 November 1965, three weeks before the end of the Second Vatican Council, about forty conciliar bishops gathered to celebrate the Holy Eucharist in the Catacombs of St. Domitilla. The Mass was presided over by Msgr. Charles-Marie Himmer (1902–1994). At the end of the Mass, the assembled bishops...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Religions
Year: 2025, Volume: 16, Issue: 2 |
| Further subjects: | B
Poverty
B hunger and social justice B Vatican II B Catholic Church B Third Word B Bishops B church of the poor |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | On 16 November 1965, three weeks before the end of the Second Vatican Council, about forty conciliar bishops gathered to celebrate the Holy Eucharist in the Catacombs of St. Domitilla. The Mass was presided over by Msgr. Charles-Marie Himmer (1902–1994). At the end of the Mass, the assembled bishops walked up to the altar and appended their signatures to what is now known as “The Pact of the Catacombs.” This document later went into oblivion and suffered obscurity for half a century. Nevertheless, its significance was never lost on some of the bishops who pledged themselves, among other things, to work for the emergence of a “poor and servant Church” with a commitment to justice and charity. The bishops seemed to have followed the example of Pope Paul VI, who on 12 September 1965, in the same Catacombs of St. Domitilla, had spoken about the lessons of simplicity, poverty, charity, and justice that are historically engraved in the Church’s memory of the catacombs. This research examines “The Pact of the Catacombs”, its recent coming to light, and its significance as a pathway for a possible poor-servant church. As a qualitative research, its approach is historical, and its analysis of primary and secondary sources will be both narrative and descriptive in connecting it to other important documents of the same milieu. |
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| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3390/rel16020208 |
