The Church: Paradox and Mystery

by Henri de Lubac

The Church: a body so diverse, so manifold, often so divided, that one struggles to define her, to see her face. "If I seek a glimpse of her, where will I find her?" asks theologian Henri de Lubac, S.J. In these reflections written at the end of the Second Vatican Council, de Lubac—who played a key role at the Council yet was leery of rapid reform—searches out the wrinkled, mysterious beauty of the Church he loves as his mother. The Catholic Church is such a paradox, a unity of opposites, that many are scandalized—a fact from which de Lubac does not shrink: "I am told that she is holy, yet I see her full of sinners. . . . So often I note that her members, as if by fate, huddle timidly together in closed enclaves, just like human beings everywhere." But her distinctive beauty, when he beholds it, leaves him stunned, a "beauty most rare, most improbable, most disconcerting." He sees in her "not the complete achievement of human perfection," but rather something "strange and supernatural," a glory "opening unknown vistas." These seven brief studies on the mystery of Christ's Church illuminate the documents of Vatican II and offer nourishment and clarity to those confused by turbulence or hypocrisy among Christians. Also included as an appendix is a landmark speech the French Jesuit gave in 1969 surveying the state of the Church. De Lubac, who was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II before his death in 1991, reflects deeply on the nature of authentic holiness in the modern world and argues that sainthood is not only possible but already—through the Holy Spirit—quite alive amid all the storms, both in his time and in ours.

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Henri-Marie de Lubac, SJ (1896-1991) was a French Jesuit priest who became a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, and is considered to be one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. His writings and doctrinal research played a key role in the shaping of the Second Vatican Council.

De Lubac became a faculty member at Catholic Faculties of Theology of Lyons, where he taught history of religions until 1961. His pupils included Jean Daniélou and Hans Urs von Balthasar. De Lubac was created cardinal deacon by Pope John Paul II on February 2, 1983 and received the red biretta and the deaconry of S. Maria in Domnica, February 2, 1983. He died on September 4, 1991, Paris and is buried in a tomb of the Society of Jesus at the Vaugirard cemetery in Paris.