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Dear catholic.com visitors: This Catholic Answers website, with all its free resources, is the world’s largest source of explanations for Catholic beliefs and practices. We receive no funding from the institutional Church and rely entirely on your generosity to sustain this website with trustworthy, accessible content. If every visitor this month donated $1, catholic.com would be fully funded for an entire year. If you’ve never made a gift, now is the time. Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar this week only. Thanks and God bless.

The pastor of my church has been allowing a retired nun to give the homilies during Mass. Is this allowed?

Question:

The pastor of my church has been allowing a retired nun to give the homilies during Mass. Is this allowed?

Answer:

No. Here is the relevant text from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (revised edition, 2002):

The homily should ordinarily be given by the priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to the deacon, but never to a lay person. In particular cases and for a just cause, the homily may even be given by a bishop or a priest who is present at the celebration but cannot concelebrate. (66)

As you can see, it is preferred that the celebrating priest gives the homily himself. In particular circumstances a bishop, deacon, or another priest can give the homily. But it is never to be given by a lay person.

 

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