Inspirations of the Apostolic constitution on the Church in the Modern World for theology of signs of the times

Abstract

The theology of signs of the times is an essential element of the pastoral strategy of the Church and is one of the basic theological categories related to properly discovering the mutual relations between the Church and the world. The development of that theology began during the pontificate of John XXIII, who brought back the expression “signs of the times” in ecclesial terminology and gave it new meaning. The idea of “the signs of the times” has made its imprint on the teachings of Vatican II. This article is an attempt to present the inspirations for the theology of the signs of the times contained in the Apostolic constitution On the Church in the Modern World. For that purpose the expression “signs of the times” was explained, which as of yet has no explicit definition. The article then presents the recommendations formulated by the Gaudium et spes on the ways of interpreting the signs of the times. At the end the objectives of recognition and study of the signs of the times by the Church were disclosed.