ABSTRACT
Theology and sociology provide rather different accounts of the Church. Their method and conclusions are so distinct that an outside observer might suppose that they were examining quite different phenomena - which, in a sense, is true. Ecclesiology, that subsection of theology which concerns itself specifically with the Church, understands the Church terms of its foundation and destiny, its calling and its role in the economy of salvation, what the Church is there for, and what part it plays in God's purposes. An increasingly severe shortage of vocations meant that many vast parishes could not regularly have the services of a priest and were accordingly deprived of the Mass for long periods. The churches in the northern hemisphere exist in a radically different social, economic and political context. The societies in which they are set are very much more prosperous than the countries of Latin America.
