El concepto de pastor y función pastoral en el Vaticano II

Abstract

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There is no doubt that Vat. II was characterized for its unmistakeable pastoral orientation. But this pastoral concern has been so emphasized by Vat. II's commentarists that we have arrived to a kind of oppostion between pastoral and law, pastoral and dogma, pastoral and moral. Rejecting current Canon law as unpastoral, a new pastoral law was sought. On a diocesan level distinctions began to be made between juridical government and pastoral government, with the corresponding divisionsand contradictions in the diocesan bishop's real functions. This state of things brought the author to study what Vat. II really meant by pastor and pastoral tunction. Given the pastoral references of Council documents, particularly the Constitution Lumen Gentium and the decree Christus Dominus, to texts of the Old and New
Testaments, the author analyzes the concept and misión of shepherd in Holy Scripture, and also in extrabiblical literature for its relation to biblical texts. Hence the idea and mission of shepherd is studied in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Phenicia, and Chanaan along with Greek and Hellenic civilizations. Befare entering into the question of shepherd in the Old Testament, brief references are made to the life of shepherds in Palestine as well as to pastoral terms in the Bible. The pastoral theme is studied in the Old Testament chronologically. In the first place, in the time of the Patriarchs ,and later, in the Monarchy. Different sections are dedicated to the concept of shepherd in the Psalms, in pre-exilic prophets, in Ezechiel, in Zachariah, in the Book of Isaiah. and finally. in Psalm 23. The study of the pastoral theme in the New Testament begins with an overall vision, followed by specific considerations of the Synoptic authors. the Gospel of Sto John, and the remaining writings of the New Testamento A special partdeals with the relatioship between pastoral ca re (apacentar) and episkopos, between shepherd and bishop-along with their synonyms in Apostolic times. The section ends with patristic interpretations of pastoral texts in the Bible. After reviewing the concept of shepherd and pastoral function in Holy Scripture. the theme is studied in the documents of Vat. II. The use of the word shepherd is considered in Council documents, and a lack of terminological uniformity when speaking of pastoral function is noted. The author then makes an attempt to find the notion and content of the pastoral munus of bishops and priests. arriving in this way to the concept of shepherd and pastoral function in Vat. II.