Lumen Gentium, 21 November 1964
The dogmatic constitution on the Church. It presents the Church as a mystery — the People of God, the Body of Christ, and a sacrament of the union of humanity with God — rather than as a merely juridical institution. It teaches the universal call to holiness, binding on every Christian; restates the office of pope and bishops acting in collegial communion; and treats in turn the laity, religious life, the eschatological character of the pilgrim Church, and the Blessed Virgin Mary as Mother of God and figure of the Church.
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