How novel is John Paul II's theology of the family as "ecclesia domestica"?

The Second Vatican Council wrote in *Lumen gentium* 11 ([English](http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html) , [Latin](http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_lt.html)) : > The family is, so to speak, the domestic church. In it parents should, by their word and example, be the first preachers of the faith to their children; they should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each of them, fostering with special care vocation to a sacred state. > > *In hac velut Ecclesia domestica parentes verbo et exemplo sint pro filiis suis primi fidei praecones, et vocationem unicuique propriam, sacram vero peculiari cura, foveant oportet.* In *The Splendor of Faith: The Theological Vision of Pope John Paul II* (Crossroad, 1999; 2nd ed. 2003), Cardinal Avery Dulles writes (p146 of the 2003 edition, which I have read only on Google snippet view): > John Paul II has frequently repeated the term *ecclesia domestica* without adding the qualifier *veluti* ("as it were") used by the council. Dulles' cited examples are [*Catechesi tradendae*](http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_16101979_catechesi-tradendae_en.html) 68 (1979), [*Familiaris consortio*](http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_19811122_familiaris-consortio_en.html) 49-52 (1981), and [*Evangelium vitae*](http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html) 92 (1995). John Paul II's homily [*Expedit ut laborem*](http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/1980/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19800926_sinodo_lt.html) (26 Sept 1980) also speaks of the family's place as *"ecclesiola" seu ecclesia domestica*; and his statement in *Familiaris consortio* 21 that > The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason too it can and should be called "the domestic Church." can now be found in the Catechism (s. 2204). A footnote in *FC* refers to *Lumen gentium* and to Paul VI's [*Apostolicam actuositatem*](http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651118_apostolicam-actuositatem_en.html) 11 (1965) - which says that the family fulfils its mission "if it *appears as* the domestic sanctuary of the Church" (my emphasis; the Latin is *tamquam domesticum sanctuarium Ecclesiae se exhibeat*). It's not hard to find bundles of sources for the family being a good thing, and support for its special role in education. But it seems, especially in *FC*, that John Paul II gives the family a *theologically* elevated position, as an explicit Church-in-miniature, and that this is a novel development - whereas previous authorities used the phrase more cautiously. **Is this actually novel?** I would be interested in finding earlier (pre-Council) sources for this theology, or alternatively an explanation of how it differs from prior explanations of the ecclesial role of the family. (I should say that I don't have a problem with novelty, so this isn't intended to be a criticism! I'm just interested in the history of the idea.)