92
114.âBeing Church means being Godâs people,
in accordance with the great plan of his fatherly
love. This means that we are to be Godâs leaven
in the midst of humanity. It means proclaim-
ing and bringing Godâs salvation into our world,
which often goes astray and needs to be encour-
aged, given hope and strengthened on the way.
The Church must be a place of mercy freely giv-
en, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved,
forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of
the Gospel.
A people of many faces
115.âThe People of God is incarnate in the
peoples of the earth, each of which has its own
culture. The concept of culture is valuable for
grasping the various expressions of the Christian
life present in Godâs people. It has to do with
the lifestyle of a given society, the specific way in
which its members relate to one another, to oth-
er creatures and to God. Understood in this way,
culture embraces the totality of a peopleâs life.
84
Each people in the course of its history devel-
ops its culture with legitimate autonomy.
85
This is
due to the fact that the human person, âby nature
84
âCf. T
hird
G
eneral
C
onference
of
the
L
atin
A
mer
-
ican
and
C
aribbean
B
ishops
,
Puebla Document
, 23 March 1979,
Nos. 386-387.
85
âCf. S
econd
V
atican
E
cumenical
C
ouncil
, Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Gaudium et
Spes
, 36.
