Public Space and the Experience of Holiness

Abstract

This reflection about the experience of holiness in the public space, inspired by the Magisterium of the Church, especially in the Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, by Pope Francis, suggests, from the perspective of a contextualized praxeological theology, the comprehension of holiness far beyond personal spirituality. Holiness from the perspective of Christian mysticism should permeate life in society, supposing pastoral engagement of socio-political nature, guided by the primacy of the Common Good, a fundamental principle of the Social Doctrine of the Church, which counteracts the privilege that our society confers to private interests involved in the public space. The “essential rule” for the experience of holiness in this space is charity, translated into political action that aims at establishing fair social and economic systems, historical signs of the Kingdom of God which is, also, eschatological.