THE FAMILY AS A DOMESTIC CHURCH

Before the advent of man and the society, God created them man and woman in the Biblical
term. The growing controversial issues concerning the concept of “Family” is one that has
resulted in a lot of problems in our society and the church today. Thus, the concept of family is
one that is subjective, but it is fairly objective, fact that the family in whatever view it may come
is very important in the world.

What is a family? Etymologically, the term family is from the Latin word “Familia”, which
meant “Household”, a designation that include both servants and relatives. More so, the family is
the basic cell of the society.

What is a Domestic Church? The term refers to the family, the smallest body of gathered
believers in Christ. Though recovered only recently, the term dates all the way back to the first
century AD. The Greek word ecclesiola referred to “little church.” Hence, in (CCC. 1666) The
Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith.

The Developmental Stage of the Term “Family as a domestic Church”: According to the
Encyclical of Pope St. John Paul II, “Familiaris Consortio” and the Catechism of the
Catholic Church.
It is an arguable point that the concept of the family as a domestic church would have
remained an interesting but dormant footnote in the history of the council had it not been for the

pontificate of Pope St. John Paul II. While Paul VI and John Paul I briefly mention the term, it is
only with Pope St. John Paul II that a systematic analysis is attempted and a "theology of
domestic church" is fleshed out.
Most importantly, he did not allow this newly recovered construct to free float theologically.
Rather, he provided a definitive interpretative framework by which the domestic church is to be
understood, and he established that the family must be understood through the prism of its
ecclesiological and Christological identity.
Hence, Pope St. John Paul II situates the identity of the family along two axes: Christ and the
Church. In (nos. 17-49), the bulk of the document, Familiaris consortio defines the family's
essence and role as being "to guard, reveal and communicate love." It is this that reveals the
ecclesiological nature of the family. Pope St. John Paul II then divides this into four constitutive
aspects: (1) forming a community of persons, (2) serving life, (3) participating in the
development of society, and (4) sharing in the life and mission of the Church. This is further
expanded in terms of the family being (a) a believing and evangelizing community (prophetic
nature), (b) a community in dialogue with God (priestly nature), and (c) a community at the
service of humanity (kingly nature) This means that the nature of the family is to be found in the
nature of Christ.
However, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the term Domestic Church of the
family is one that proceeds from Christ who chose to be born and grow up in the bosom of the
family of Joseph and Mary. The Church is nothing other than “the Family of God”. (CCC.
1655.)
More so, in our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of
primary importance as centers of living, radiant faith. For this reason the Second Vatican
Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the Ecclesia domestica. It is in the bosom
of the family that parents are "by word and example . . . the first heralds of the faith with regard
to their children. (CCC.166-169).
Conclusively, looking in our own context of things, a child that is misbehaving in the society is
the product of the family, and due to the rising issues of broken homes in the name of devoice
has let and made some parents become single parents, others without parents at all or without
the knowledge of what a family is.
The encyclical of Pope St. John Paul II, Familaris Consortio, expresses an essential part of the
Christian family’s role consists in accepting the call to conversion that the Gospel addresses to
all. As with individuals just so is the family itself subject to unfaithfulness, repentance and
mutual pardon come to it as well through sacramental penance. Pope St. John Paul II, encourages
family prayer. Family prayer has for its very own object family life itself. It is seen as a call from
God and lived as a filial response to it.
Thus, all the various concrete aspects and celebrations within the family life should be seen as
suitable moments of thanksgiving, petition, trusting abandonment of the family into the hands of
the common father. Hence, the responsibility of the Christian family as the domestic church can
be achieved only with God’s unceasing aid. Therefore, Parents have the specific responsibility of
educating their children in prayer. Only by praying together with their children can a father and
mother penetrate the innermost depths of their children’s hearts and leave a lasting impression.
 ABANG EMMANUEL
BANKONG