The Church in the process of becoming. A personalistic perspective

The teachings of the Second Vatican Council continue to provide significant impetus for the development of personalist ecclesiology, which programmatically treats the concept of the person (Latin: persona, Greek: prosopon) as a central methodological category. One of the key ecclesiological problems is the question of how to correctly present the relationship between the real identity of the Church and the possible scope of its development. The aim of this article is to present the Church as a complex, dynamic and developing personal reality in the light of the universalist personalism developed by Rev. Prof. Czesław Stanisław Bartnik (1929–2020). The first part presents the concept of the Church as a social (collective) person, equipped with adequate personal structures, which include subjectivity and consciousness. The second part presents the dynamics of the ecclesial community from a historical perspective. The third and final part discusses the basic factors of the development of the Church’s self-awareness. Ultimately, the development of ecclesial perception and awareness is decisively influenced by: Christian praxis (prayer, spiritual perfection, social love); rational contemplation of revealed truth and systematically organised theological knowledge; kerygmatic transmission of revelation in unity with the Magisterium Ecclesiae, together with adaptation to specific contexts; and finally, the action and assistance of the Holy Spirit, who gives the Church the “sense of faith” (sensus fidei).