In the first document ever to be signed by officials from eight different curial offices (including the Congregations for the Clergy, the Doctrine of the Faith, and Divine Worship), the Vatican has clarified the proper roles of clergy and laity. The latter may “collaborate with” but may not “substitute for” the former. In many parishes the roles have become confused, with lay people (and religious) performing tasks that only the ordained (bishops, priests, deacons) should perform. Among the points that caught my eye:
1. The Vatican says it is “unlawful” for those who aren’t ordained to use such titles as “pastor” and “chaplain.” This means Sister So-and-So, who ministers at the local hospital, may not be termed a hospital “chaplain.”
2. The homily “must be reserved to the sacred minister, priest or deacon, to the exclusion of the non-ordained faithful.” This means no lay person, no nun, and no seminarian who hasn’t been ordained as a transitional deacon may give the homily. And there are to be no run-arounds, such as “reflections” given by a layman in place of the homily.
3. The congregation may not say the Eucharistic prayer or any other prayer that is reserved for the priest during Mass. In some parishes, the people have been told they are “co-consecrators,” which is false (even heretical), or at least they have fallen into the bad habit of acting like “co-consecrators,” which indicates how little they know about what’s going on.
4. Vestments may not be worn by anyone other than the ordained. (This does not refer to choir robes or to altar servers’ albs.)
5. Extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist may not receive Communion “apart from the other faithful as though concelebrants.”
6. Parishes are to avoid “the habitual use of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion at Mass.” They may be used only when there is a serious need—which, in some parishes, may never occur. We all have visited parishes in which three extraordinary ministers help the priest distribute Communion to a hundred people, for an average of twenty-five communicants apiece. Even if the priest were infirm, there hardly could be a reason for so many helpers, but in nearly all these cases there is no need for any extraordinary ministers at all.
7. In the care of the sick, no one other than a priest may anoint with oil. A layman certainly may visit and minister to the sick, but may not usurp a priestly role.
Although the “Instruction on Collaboration Between Laity and Priests” breaks no new ground, it is a further reminder of the liturgical disarray around us. Its directives will surprise no one except those who, deliberately or innocently, haven’t been following the regulations.
The issuance of the document confirms that Catholic Answers has produced the right book at the right time: Mass Confusion, a compendium of liturgical do’s and don’ts. (The book, by James Akin, is available for $15.95 plus $4.95 shipping. To order, please call 1-888-291-8000.)