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BISHOP'S COLUMN

Laity have evolved into leadership

A few weeks ago, I had the joy of participating in the 25th anniversary of the Formation for Ministry Program in our Diocese of Albany. 

Over the past quarter of a century, 971 men and women have participated in this program of spiritual formation, pastoral skill-building and theological and scriptural classes. They have enriched our Diocese and our parishes immensely through their roles in faith formation, liturgy, sacramental preparation, pastoral care and a wide variety of human services. 

This emergence of the "Age of the Laity", which Formation for Ministry represents, is based upon two basic assumptions enshrined in the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s:

• All believers, through baptism and faith, are called to the mission and ministry of the Church; and

• all believers are called to this mission and ministry by God. The call to ministry, in other words, is not issued by a bishop or priest, but by God. 

It should be noted, however, that these basic premises about the role of the laity in the Church which the Second Vatican Council articulated - and as they have evolved subsequently - are the result of more than a century of development.

For example, in 1906 in his encyclical, "Pascendi," Pope Pius X wrote, "The Church is essentially an unequal society. That is, it is a society formed by pastors and flock - as far as the multitude is concerned, they have no other duty than to let themselves be led."

We know that Pius X was canonized by the Church, but I suspect it was not for this particular statement. The image of a flock is a biblical one, and an important one; however, it seems misplaced in this context and interpretation.

Whatever the intent of the statement that Pius X was making in "Pascendi," it is obvious that the official statements of the Church concerning the role and the ministry of the laity have changed dramatically over the past century.

Pope Pius XI, for example, encouraged the movement called Catholic Action, which was defined as "the participation of the laity in the apostolate of the hierarchy." 

This had a very positive side and was a huge step forward in that it encouraged the active role of the laity and stressed their activity rather than their passivity. 

On the minus side, however, this definition seemed to imply that the laity were not involved in their own mission, but rather were permitted to share in the mission of someone else. 

The laity were portrayed as a tool or instrument to be used by bishops and pastors in those spheres of society which the hierarchy could not enter themselves. As a matter of historical fact, this was primarily in the realm of European politics. 

In addition, the Catholic Action model seemed to suggest that, while the faithful are allowed to share in the mission and ministry of the Church, they are called to such by delegation, not by God nor by virtue of their membership in the Church.

Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical "Mystici Corporis," began, at least tentatively, to recognize the weakness of the Catholic Action model and definition, which held that any formal sharing of ministry by the laity was at the hierarchy's initiative and was a sharing in the hierarchy's apostolate. 

Their own role
He pointed out that not just the hierarchy was called to service, but that the laity had a calling and mission which were properly their own. Pius XII, however, still saw the calling and mission of the laity to be a "collaboration in the apostolate of the hierarchy."

Prior to the Second Vatican Council, in other words, the laity were defined in a negative way. Put most succinctly, the laity were defined as those not ordained.

This negative definition carried a further connotation that non-ordained meant inferior, or at least subordinate. This was applied not only to the exercise of authority in the Church, but to the state of holiness as well. Inferiority in these areas suggested that the laity were dependent upon the clergy for the sacraments, correct doctrine and other services. 

The clerical state was considered the normative model for Christian living to which the laity aspired as best they could, but were in no way to compete with the clergy in holiness, prayerfulness, spirituality and Church leadership.

The Second Vatican Council, however, dramatically shifted the ecclesiological ground for our understanding of the laity. The laity are described by the Council not just as instruments of the Church, but they themselves are the Church, the people of God.

Furthermore, as result of the Council's shift, the Catholic action and lay apostolate model began to wane and the notion of lay ministry began to emerge. 

Words of support
This evolution of the laity's role has been developed and enhanced further by a rich and coherent body of post-concilliar documents such as the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults in 1973, Pope Paul VI's Apostolic Exhortation on Evangelization in the Modern World issued in 1976 and the teachings of Pope John Paul II articulated in "Christifideles Laici," "Catechesi Tradendae," "Pastores Dabo Vobis" and "Redemptoris Missio," as well as in the remarkable General Directory for Catechesis published in 1997 by the Congregation for the Clergy. 

In addition, the documents of the American bishops, such as "Called and Gifted," "Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium" and "Co-Workers in the Vineyard" have reinforced this teaching that all the baptized are given a share in the priestly ministry of Jesus and that one and all are necessary for the fulfillment of the Church's mission.

Lay ministry, then, is neither a luxury nor a concession brought about by some American desire to democratize the Church or by the current shortage in vocations to the ordained and vowed life.

Rather, it is the inevitable result of the Second Vatican Council's renewed appreciation of the laity not as mere instruments of the hierarchy, but as the People of God who possess personal gifts and charisms which empower them to contribute their part to the mission of the Church and the transformation of society. 

Laity role
The laity's responsibility is a necessary and perennial dimension of the life of the Church, exercised by those who are rooted in the living and loving relationship with Christ Jesus. It demands interdependence and partnership between bishops and priest, between clergy, religious and laity and between parishes and diocese. 

In our Diocese, we have been most fortunate to have so many laity step forward to assume their rightful role in the Church and with parish and diocesan leaders who have shared this vision and facilitated its implementation. 

I pray that the sterling insights of Vatican II about the laity's call to holiness and ministry will continue to flourish, because they are vitally needed if the Church is to fulfill its mission of evangelization and to combat effectively the forces of secularism, consumerism and moral relativism which are the greatest threats to contemporary faith.

(06/04/09) [[In-content Ad]]

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