Ecclesiology of the margins

 

Paolo Cugini

In contemporary theological debate, the geopolitical and existential space of the periphery has ceased to be a mere geographical coordinate and has transformed into a generative theological site. The ecclesiology of the margins does not represent a pastoral extension of the institutional Church to the peripheries, but rather the process by which the Church is realized and constituted starting from the very margins of society. The Church of the margins manifests itself primarily as a historical fragment of the People of God, embodied in small communities formed by those experiencing social exclusion. Jürgen Moltmann has astutely observed how the true identity of the Church is measured by its ability to divest itself of power structures to rediscover its original communitarian dimension: "The Church of Christ is not a society of privileged people, but the community of those without rights, of the poor and marginalized, who find in it their original dignity" (Moltmann, 1975, p. 112).

These communities are composed of people without academic qualifications, positions of power, or institutional recognition. Their existence is marked by daily routines, by exhausting work aimed at pure survival. In this context, time takes on a radical ontological status: there is no room for the superfluous or for abstract doctrinal disputes. As Gustavo Gutiérrez notes in his essay on liberation theology: "The poor have no time to waste on abstractions; their temporality is tied to the concreteness of daily bread and the need for rest as redemption from toil" (Gutiérrez, 1972, p. 84).

For these people, time is precious because it is structured around the anthropological need to rest from the day's toil, making every fragment of generosity an act of existential resistance. The liturgical celebration in a marginal community distances itself from the ritual formalism of cathedrals to become a vital event. It is characterized by a vibrant corporeality: gestures, intense songs, and a visceral faith in the Lord who hears the cry of the poor. The celebratory dynamic is grounded in a profound epistemological certainty: the daily humiliation suffered in social structures finds refutation and consolation in the mystery manifested in Jesus of Nazareth. Jon Sobrino, analyzing the holiness and liturgy of basic ecclesial communities, writes: "The prayer of the poor is a protest against oppressive reality and, at the same time, total entrustment to a God who takes upon himself their suffering by incarnating himself in the impotence of the cross" (Sobrino, 1984, p. 203).

Faith lived on the margins is a sensitive faith . The afflicted possess a singular trust in the mystery because they have already experienced, in the gratuitousness of grace, that their cry of pain does not fall on deaf ears. The evangelical promise to console the afflicted, raise up the fallen, and embrace the humiliated is not a future utopia, but a soteriological experience present in the very act of gathering. Alongside the Church that arises spontaneously from the margins, the ecclesiology of the margins is realized through a movement of institutional conversion: the Church that deliberately chooses to inhabit the margins. This involves a radical exodus from the episcopal palaces and the legal-institutional strongholds historically erected to defend itself from the people and preserve its sacred isolation.

This ecclesiological journey seeks a Jesus who, historically and theologically, "became poor among the poor, marginal among the marginalized, excluded among the excluded." From this perspective, the theology of journeying finds fundamental support in Yves Congar's reflections on ecclesial renewal: "A Church that does not emerge from itself and its temporal certainties risks becoming a museum; only by walking with the people does the Church rediscover the breath of the Spirit" (Congar, 1953, p. 341). By authentically listening to the People of God who inhabit the peripheries, outgoing believers experience a conversion of the spiritual senses. They perceive, sensitively and immediately, the real and mysterious presence of the Crucified One in the suffering bodies of the marginalized.

The culmination of this process is not exclusively pastoral, but strictly theological. It is at this level of sharing and listening that the qualitative leap occurs: the transition from an ecclesial practice to a theology of the margins. The excluded are no longer considered mere recipients of the Church's charitable action, but become the primary theological locus through which God speaks to the world. Seeing the crucified Christ in the excluded means recognizing the sacramental character of innocent suffering. As Leonardo Boff stated in his study on ecclesiogenesis: "The margins of society become the center of theological reflection because it is there that the crucified Christ continues to suffer the passion of the world, challenging the authenticity of all discourse on God" (Boff, 1977, p. 67).

The theology of the margins, therefore, deconstructs the claims of a universal and abstract theology, configuring itself as a situated reflection, capable of interpreting the mystery of God through the wounds of history and the gaze of the outcast. The ecclesiology of the margins is not a peripheral or secondary ecclesiology, but represents the recovery of the subversive memory of the Gospel. It is fully realized at the intersection between the spiritual resilience of those experiencing exclusion and the itinerant conversion of a Church that abandons its privileges. Only by taking root where humanity is wounded can the Church rediscover its profound identity as the People of God, transforming the cry of the poor into the starting point for an authentic understanding of the divine mystery.

 

Bibliographic References

• Boff, L. (1977). Ecclesiogenesis: Basic Ecclesial Communities Reinvent the Church . Assisi: Cittadella Editrice.
• Congar, Y. (1953). True and False Reform in the Church . Milan: Jaca Book.
• Gutiérrez, G. (1972). Liberation Theology: Perspectives . Brescia: Queriniana.
• Moltmann, J. (1975). The Church in the Power of the Spirit . Brescia: Queriniana.
• Sobrino, J. (1984). Resurrection of the True Poor: The Content of the Preferential Option . Bologna: EDB.