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St Francis Magazine Vol 8, No 2 | April 2012 God residing as aliens (paroikousa) in Rome to the church of God residing as aliens (paroikouse) in Corinth.” This theme reoccurs in the 2 nd Christian century writing of Dionysius the bishop of Achaea in his Epistles to Gortyna and Amastris. Their salutations read, to the church sojourning at Gortyna “with the rest of the paroikiai of Crete”; and the Epistle to Amastris is addressed, “to the church which sojourns at Amastris with those throughout Pontus.” The early church historian Eusebius (c. AD 263 – 339) made reference to a copy of a letter describing the martyrdom of Polycarp in AD 155. In that letter, the church of Smyrna where he was the bishop sent details of the events to a church in Philomelium. Its salutation read: “The church of God sojourning at Smyrna to the church of God sojourning in Philomelium and all the sojournings in every place of the holy and catholic church.” This sampling is representative of a common self-­designation of the early church, as ‘he ekklesia paroikousa.’ The churches saw themselves as belonging to and originating from God—“the church of God”—and they saw themselves as a community of resident-­‐aliens—“the church sojourning at.” This self-­‐identity carries though to the present, but in a more subtle way with the term ‘paroecia’ or parish in ecclesiastical usage. It is notable that Vatican II recognized the ‘foreignness’ of the church by its statement that “The church on earth while sojourning in a foreign land away from her Lord (cf. 2 Cor. 5,6) regards herself as an exile.” Similarly it reflects on the words of Augustine and declares “The Church, ‘like a pilgrim in a foreign land presses forward amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God’ (Augustine, City of God), announcing the cross and death of the Lord until he comes.” 120 120 Lumen Gentium No 8: “Inter persecutiones mundi et consolationes Dei peregrinando procurrit ecclesia, crucem et mortem Domini annuntians, donec veniat.” 254