The diaconate as a dimension of the Diaspora Church

Julia Knop

Faculty of Catholic Theology of the University of Erfurt

Abstract

The Church is and must be the sacrament of salvation and the sacrament of the unity of mankind among each other and with God. The three dimensions martyria, diakonia and liturgia illustrate the sacramentality of the church, which continuously takes into consideration the precise social andreligious conditions of Christians. In contrast to the life of the Church, in the position of majority, the religious Diaspora may on the other hand require particular forms which are principally concerned with a “diaconic” attitude of Christians living as a “creative minority”.

Keywords:

martyria – diakonia – liturgia, Diaspora, East Germany, Common Priesthood, Säkularität