‘Teken en voorloper van Gods barmhartigheid voor allen’ . Schillebeeckx’ ecclesiologie tijdens het Tweede Vaticaans Concilie

What did Schillebeeckx's theological contribution to the council as the advisor to the Dutch bishops and as an academic theologian actually entail? This article offers an analysis of the literature he produced during and in some cases just before or after the council. The author addresses the issue of the relation between Church and world, particularly in his commentary of Gaudium et spes, which at that time was still a preliminary draft, entitled 'Schema 13'. The first part of this article offers a comprehensive survey of Schillebeeckx's writing during the council and of the secondary literature on his reception and influence. Considering the amount of material on Schillebeeckx in the history of the reception of the council, it has to be said that his influence during the council was considerably stronger than in studies of the council that appeared later. In the second part of the article, the author sets out his position towards the different sides within the world's episcopate and the Church in general, and offers some critical comments on an all too progressive reading of Schillebeeckx's involvement in the Church of his time. This is followed by a description of the outlines of his ecclesiology and his idea of the Church as sacrament of the world, which can be regarded as one of the most fundamental aspects of his theology and perhaps also of the council. Schillebeeckx believed that the council was a starting point and should not be considered as the new status quo. The ecclesiology of the council would have a major impact on his own theology. The theological hermeneutics he developed shortly after the council are characterized by the continuous re-interpretation of authoritative texts from the tradition by the community of faith in the light of the signs of time and vice versa.status: publishe