THE POVERTY OF THE CHURCH AND THE SIGNS OF THE MEDELLIN TIMES AS UNFINISHED RECEPTION OF VATICAN II

In Latin America, a theology of the signs of the times ought to be localized in the hermeneutical horizon of the reception of the Second Vatican Council. The Medellin Conference - being the only case of a Continental reception of the Council and of a collegiate exercise of theological pastoral discernment of the signs of the times - is an exemplary place for such reflection. In Medellin, the poverty of the Church and the preferential option for the poor, offer a key to this reception and to criteria for discerning the signs of the times. The reception given at Medellin, which can be considered faithful, creative, selective, and incomplete, calls for it to be taken up again.