Roman Catholic Church

Although there were many lay preachers in the early church, their style of preaching quickly fell into disuse as the pulpit became dominated by the ordained clergy. The new code of the Canon Law of the Roman church now allows lay people to preach once again under special circumstances. This article summarizes the value of lay preaching in the Roman Catholic Church.

The Restoration of Lay Preaching in the Roman Catholic Church

With the advent of the new Code of Canon Law, the prohibition against lay preaching in the church has been lifted. Much of the groundwork for this welcoming of lay preaching (and it is a welcoming, for the laity may be allowed to preach not only when it is necessary, but in those cases where it would be advantageous) was laid in the dioceses of West Germany in the 1970s. There, in virtue of a special rescript that the German bishops requested of Rome, lay preaching was permitted in church and at Mass.

In presenting their request for the approval of lay preaching, the German bishops were careful not to base their arguments on the fact that the number of priests was diminishing, although that was certainly true. Instead, they argued that, in virtue of baptism, all Christians are called to give witness to their faith and that such witness has its place in church and in the liturgy.

Expectations. What are the expectations of lay preaching? What is hoped for? A fresh presentation of the Word of God is what one expects from lay preaching. Lay preachers, speaking out of their experience, can show how the Word intersects with and interprets those human realities that priests, by their training and lifestyle, simply cannot or, for the most part, do not know at first hand. For example, who can better speak of Advent’s expectation in terms of the fear and hope of Mary waiting for the birth of the one she was to call Jesus, than a mother who has herself waited for the birth of her child? Who can better speak of trust in the Lord’s providence than those who know themselves to be poor and powerless in ways that few if any, priests will ever experience?

Suggestions for Lay Preaching. Lay preaching can have a place in the church’s liturgy. On occasion, laypeople could be invited to preach in place of the homily; on other occasions, their preaching might well be a part of the homily itself. For example, a eucharistic homily might be structured in such a way that a non-ordained preacher, a member of the liturgical assembly, could be invited to respond to a homily, indicating in an expanded and perhaps more detailed way how the Word of God can be translated into Christian witness. Or perhaps the pastor and a member of the community could jointly build a homily in such a way that the non-ordained preacher would describe some real human situation, analogous to the situation underlying the scriptural text, to which the homily could then be addressed as God’s saving word. Such shared preaching might well emerge on occasion from the kind of homily preparation group described in the American Bishops’ document on the Sunday homily, “Fulfilled in Your Hearing: The Homily in the Sunday Assembly,” United States Catholic Conference (1982), 36–38.

The Basic Issue for Lay Preachers. However homilies are structured, by whoever preaching is done, the basic issue is always a hermeneutical one: Is the Word of God being heard as a word that speaks meaningfully to the community here and now? In order for that to happen, the preacher must be able to deal responsibly and intelligently with texts which, because of the ancient and foreign cultural setting in which they were composed, are not always immediately intelligible, or, even if intelligible, not always recognized as pertinent to the present. But while training in accurate exegesis is an essential part of the preacher’s preparation, along with a knowledge of the church’s tradition of interpreting the Scriptures, such training and knowledge are not sufficient for effective preaching. Equally as important is the preacher’s knowledge of the real conditions and situations that make up the life of the people who will hear the Word preached. It is out of this area of knowledge especially that the lay preacher might well be able to bring new life to God’s Word, a Word that creates a community of believers, called to worship their God in spirit and in truth.

A revolution has occurred in music and the arts in the Roman Catholic Church since Vatican II: Churches have been renovated to styles more conducive to the new liturgy; new music has been written for liturgical texts, and the arts have found a new place in Catholic worship.

Before Vatican II, the rubrics (ceremonial directions) for Roman Catholic rituals were very specific. Documents clearly indicated what was permissible in liturgy and clearly separated the sacred from the secular. During the period when Vatican II council documents were emerging (1963–1975), the nature of liturgical music and visual elements reflected assumptions of a new celebrative spirit. Rubrics were put aside, some of them forever (e.g., the ruling that women could play no role in the ritual in the sanctuary). The influence of life, rather than law, laid the groundwork for renewal.

Worship continued in parishes during the years when the official documents for the renewal of the seven sacrament rituals were being written. Facilities were renovated, some more than once, and new facilities were built. Many new possibilities were attempted in the liturgy itself, including many that proved to be ineffective. For example, the offertory procession sometimes seemed like a parade that interrupted the ritual process. At times an eagerness to keep the Mass celebrational resulted in an overly flamboyant visual and/or musical texture. The use of felt banners that proclaimed “theme” slogans in words distracted from rather than inspired the prayer text. Multimedia presentations, dance, drums, drama, bells, harp, sitar, and balloons all permitted time and space to be explored in the ritual process, but also tended to drain power from the liturgy itself. In retrospect, it seems that music and art had to go through a “throwaway phase,” that is, a time when permanence was viewed as negative while flexibility and newness, or eclecticism, were believed to offer the richest access to the spiritual. Many of these innovations were dropped.

Along with the spirit of renewal, social and cultural issues entered sacrament ritual life. The blatant male references in rousing old hymns became offensive rather than conducive to prayer in communities sensitive to inclusiveness, peace, and justice.

It was fortunate that the final documentation for the sacramental rituals coincided with the 1976 bicentennial of the United States. The heightened awareness of our history awakened the interest of church communities in their beginnings. For communities housed in fine examples of historical architecture, the task became not simply a renovation, but also restoration. Commitment to both directions led to the mutual enhancement of worship spaces and ritual processes. When these are considered separately, an emphasis on one can be detrimental to the other. For example, the architectural integrity of many turn-of-the-century revival-style church interiors was diluted when they were painted white in the name of “relevance.” Fortunately, in many cases, this served as an undercoat for the rich Victorian colors of the postmodern period. In music, early efforts to update chants by replacing Latin with English have been preempted by works such as the chants of Taizé.

For anyone assisting a faith community in building new worship spaces or renovating a worship space, it is natural to ask, “Why do you go?” Earlier, the natural Roman Catholic answer would have been “out of obligation”; now the answer tends to be something like “because here I find support for my life … a family.” From one community to another, the sense of family has become the common element that holds together the communal expression of faith. Although the same approved new texts are used in all churches (the Mass went from one eucharistic prayer to a choice of nine), the climate of liturgical expression varies. Some communities prefer orderly services guided by professional leaders in structured environments. There, ministers of music and art might be on the staff. The music planned for a ritual would be rehearsed; its score and text would be reproduced and handed out by ministers of hospitality as people enter the ritual space. The visual elements, whether permanent or seasonal, are envisioned as architectural environmental art. In such a community, the family is celebrating something special in a special way.

Another community might find the idea of family liturgy better supported by an informal style and setting. The music and art could be disposable, created for the moment of celebration, and not meant for critical review or repeated use. To serve the ritual need of such a community, the environment might be loosely structured; there might be chairs instead of fixed pews, a flexible modular platform for the sanctuary, the use of children’s art. For this community, the family celebrates something special in a seriously playful way. These are the extreme ends of the spectrum. Between them, there are many variations.

The kind of questions that arise today in relation to the texture of liturgical music, art, or architecture are:

What is the nature of the celebration?
Does the opening music signify a processional entrance or a call to prayer?
Is the music presented for or participated in by those present?
Is the music knitting those present together or merely supporting a text?
Are the words that accompany the music relevant?
Are actions or objects the focal elements of the ritual?
Is the ritual power embodied in the ordained men or in those present who share a common initiation?
Is the building a withdrawal from the world, or planted in the world?
Does the building look like a church?
As one journeys from the parking lot to the sanctuary, what is revealed by what is seen and heard?
Did the sacrament event provide entertainment or transformation?

These and other related questions will provide a stimulus for the continuing renewal of worship practices within the Roman Catholic church.