The course aims to deepen the student’s knowledge of and engagement with some of the fundamental themes that structure Joseph Ratzinger’s ecclesiology and theology of mission, and to place these in the context of some contemporary ecclesial and missiological debates: the relationship between the Church and the world as the main theme of the Council; the question of salvation and belonging to the Church in Lumen Gentium; the anthropology underlying Gaudium et Spes; the problem of Christian universalism and Rahner’s proposal; the Eucharistic identity of the Church and vicarious representation as its highest mission; the need for conversion; the proclamation that God is love as a response to human aenigmata; the necessity and limits of dialogue.