NEWS STORY: Vatican: laity’s proper place is the pews, not the pulpit

c. 1997 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ Facing an aging clergy and slower growth in priestly vocations, the Vatican expressed concern Thursday (Nov. 13) about the”negative consequences”resulting from the increasing number of priestly duties being performed by laity. In a new document on pastoral activity, approved by Pope John Paul II, the Roman Catholic […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY _ Facing an aging clergy and slower growth in priestly vocations, the Vatican expressed concern Thursday (Nov. 13) about the”negative consequences”resulting from the increasing number of priestly duties being performed by laity.

In a new document on pastoral activity, approved by Pope John Paul II, the Roman Catholic Church said the”lay faithful of both sexes have innumerable opportunities to be actively involved”in the life of the church while warning such involvement must not usurp the duties of the ordained ministry.”It must be remembered that `collaboration with’ does not, in fact, mean `substitution for,'”said the 36-page”instruction”entitled”On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priests.””This doctrine needs to be reaffirmed especially in the light of certain practices which seek to compensate for numerical shortages of ordained ministers arising in some communities,”it said.”In some instances, such have given rise to the idea of the common priesthood of the faithful which mistakes its nature and specific meaning.” The instruction added that modifications”have often been developed which have had very serious negative consequences and have caused the correct understanding of true ecclesial communion to be damaged.” In unveiling the tract at a news conference, Monsignor Dario Castrillon Hoyos, pro-prefect for the Congregation for the Clergy, said those modifications include the use of laity in priestly duties, like delivering homilies or performing certain rites reserved for ordained priests.


He said the instruction was not intended for any specific region, nor was it singling out any country.”The phenomenon is evident throughout the world,”he said,”in Europe, Latin America, Australia and the United States.”He said the basis of the problem was”numerical. There are many small parishes in Austria, Switzerland and Germany, for example, that lack priests. This has given rise to a collaboration with the laity that can lead to abuses.” In Washington, Bishop James R. Hoffman of Toledo, Ohio, said in a statement released during the annual fall meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops that the document”needs to be viewed through the lens of the ordained priest. If there are actions and ministries in the church which either obscure or make unnecessary the work of the ordained priest, this is a concern for the pastors.” Among its recommendations to tackle the priesthood shortage were using the services of retired priests, entrusting several adjacent parishes to one priest and, in select cases, prolonging recommended retirement beyond 75.

Although priests are”requested”under the church’s Canon law to submit their resignations at 75, the diocesan bishop has the right to accept or defer it.

Nearly one-third of Catholic parishes worldwide have no parish priest. The vast majority are administered by another priest, according to the Statistical Yearbook of the Church. Some of these priests, lacking resources or time, have entrusted to women religious and lay people duties they would otherwise perform.

But the pope shows no sign of bending the rules. While there is periodic discussion in the Vatican about lifting the ban on married priests or allowing women to be ordained priests, few clergy expect any real changes in this pontificate, and perhaps not well into the next century.

In fact, the document released Thursday takes pains to reaffirm well established canon law about the proper role of laity in the execution of the church’s evangelizing mission.

It says the faithful can”in cases of true necessity”and with the permission of the diocesan bishop”distribute Holy Communion”but only outside of liturgical celebrations. Laity may assist at marriage ceremonies but only”where there are no priests or deacons available.”Lay Catholics may also in certain cases be designated to minister at baptisms and lead services at funerals.

But in keeping with canon law, in no cases can laity be involved in pastoral preaching, Christian instruction, delivering liturgical homilies or performing the Sacraments. They are not permitted to wear sacred vestments.”This exclusion is not based on the preaching ability of sacred ministers nor their theological preparation, but on that function which is reserved to them in virtue of having received the Sacrament of Holy Orders,”the document said.


The pope, too, has defended the exclusivity of the priesthood, saying it is not arbitrarily intended to”defend clerical privileges but … to be obedient to the will of Christ.”

MJP END HEILBRONNER

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