Francis stressed the significance of lay ministers serving others rather than inflating their egos.

"I get angry when I see lay ministers who — pardon the expression — are ‘puffed up' by this ministry. This is ministry, but it is not Christian."

Ministers must never become self-referential, said Francis.

Service is one-directional, it is not a round trip.

In the speech, he stated that regardless of whether they hold a formal ministry, all baptised individuals are called to participate in the Church's mission.

He stated that the ministry of the faithful stems from the charism that the Holy Spirit distributes within the People of God for its edification.

First, a charism appears, inspired by the Spirit; then, the Church acknowledges this charism as a useful service to the community; finally, in a third moment, it is introduced, and a specific ministry spreads.

The Pope made these remarks in an April 22 address to the second plenary assembly of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

"Those who command should make themselves the smallest"

Concluding his address, Pope Francis stated that ministry has two key features: mission and service.

He emphasised that at the root of the term ministry is the word minus, which means 'minor'.

And Jesus said so: Those who command should make themselves the smallest. Otherwise, they do not know how to command. It is a small detail but of great importance. Those who follow Jesus are not afraid to make themselves ‘inferior,' ‘minor,' to place themselves at the service of others," the Pope said.

"Here lies the true motivation that must inspire any of faithful who assume an ecclesial task, any commitment to Christian witness in the reality where he or she lives: the willingness to serve the brethren, and in them, to serve Christ.

"Only in this way may all the baptised be able to discover the meaning of their own life, joyfully experiencing being ‘a mission on this earth,' that is, being called, in different ways and forms, to ‘bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing, and freeing' ... and letting themselves be accompanied," he said.

Pope Francis established the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life in 2016. The Dicastery held its first plenary assembly in 2019, devoted to "the identity and mission of the lay faithful in the world."

Sources

Catholic Culture

Catholic News Agency

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, head of the Vatican's Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, spoke of "co-responsibility" between clergy and laity, saying, "It does not mean that the laity in the church have to become clerics, and clerics in the church have to become laity."

Farrell's comments came before a Vatican conference on collaboration between laypeople and clergy. The conference is titled "Pastors and lay faithful called to walk together," and will take place in the Vatican's New Synod Hall.

Farrell appeared to brush off the idea of women clergy: "The Holy Spirit gives us all a calling, and all our different gifts," he said. "To some, he gives the gift of ordained priesthood, and to others, he gives many other gifts.

"There are many apostolates that priests are not qualified to undertake that the laity are," he said, and cautioned against "reducing the work among the laity and the great gift that laity bring to the church, to just some ministerial role within the church."

Linda Ghisoni, an Italian laywoman and undersecretary of the dicastery's section for laity, cautioned against trying to stake "a claim" on certain roles or functions in the church. She said that the real discussion should focus on understanding "the nature of our vocation, our baptismal identity, which opens to us immense paths" within the church.

The conference is expected to draw delegates from all over the world, who will discuss the "co-responsibility of laypeople in the synodal church," as well as the formation of laypeople.

Farrell said that the aim is to make both pastors and laypeople aware of the sense of responsibility that comes from baptism and that "unites us all".

The cardinal stressed that as pastors, "we do not reduce [the] role of laity in the church to a mere functional position or involvement, but rather they are truly part of the mission of the church".

"Laity have a lot more to offer than a mere function they can perform, such as being the accountant of the diocese," he said, saying there is still a need to arrive at "a much deeper meaning of what it means to be co-responsible in the church".

To do this, he said, "implies a change of heart, a change of attitude".

Sources

Crux Now

CathNews New Zealand

Lacroix was speaking at a press conference previewing a three-day Vatican meeting on how to improve collaboration among laypeople, priests and bishops.

Lacroix wants priests to recognise that laypeople are not there at their service.

"We are there together at the service of the Church," he said.

Lacroix said priests should invite laypeople into parish activities and programmes, but they should also ask how they can support parishioners where they already are.

He said that people's ordinary everyday lives is the stuff of holiness, and he wants priests to support them in their lives.

"What is our role as priests and bishops in this beautiful adventure?" he asked.

"Well, our main role is to be pastors. We're not managers; we're not the boss: We're pastors, shepherds."

Lacroix stated that the Church needs "better formation, better awareness and a lot of work" to bring his vision to fruition.

He recalled a time before he was a cleric when he gave this advice to pastors: "Resist inviting us to come into your things. Recognise that some of us are in school, some of us are in our profession, and we need to be good disciples there."

The event is titled "Pastors and Lay Faithful Called to Walk Together," and is organised by the Vatican's Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, headed by Cardinal Kevin Farrell.

"The laity have a lot more to offer than a mere function they can perform."

"It is very important that we do not reduce the role of the laity in the Church to a mere functional participation or a mere functional involvement".

"The laity are not just to take up the collection at the Sunday Mass. They are to do much more", said Farrell.

He explained that the laity's responsibility to the Church demands "a change of heart, a change of attitude".

Farrell stated that "we must go to a much deeper understanding of what it means to be co-responsible for the life of the Church." This understanding requires "a lot of work".

Farrell emphasised that "as baptised Catholics, we are all responsible for the Church".

When Christ said, "Go baptise in the name of the Lord. Go preach the word of God to the ends of the earth", he was speaking to everybody, not just priests.

Sources

Catholic News Agency

The Dialog

"They have no credibility; they have never lived the experience; they may know moral theology, dogmatic theology in theory, but to go from there to putting it into practice every day … they don't have the experience," said Irish-born American Cardinal Kevin Farrell.

Farrell heads the Vatican's Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, and is the point man for the Aug. 21-26 World Meeting of Families in Dublin.

The cardinal was born in the Irish capital, but moved to the United States in 1984, later serving as an auxiliary bishop in Washington before becoming bishop of Dallas in 2007.

In 2016, he was tapped by Pope Francis to head the new office - which combined several other Vatican councils as part of the reform of the Curia.

In an interview with Intercom, the official magazine of the Irish bishops, Farrell spoke of the differences between the Church in the United States and the Church in Ireland.

He said the United States was a country where "the laity run the Church."

"In my own experience as Bishop of Dallas, we had one priest in a parish where 10,000 people would attend Mass at the weekend. We have parishes that have a $20 million annual budget. No priest is going to be able to run a parish of that magnitude without competent lay people," the cardinal said.

He said this also meant many pastoral tasks usually left to priests in Ireland - like marriage preparation - are done by others.

"We have a million and a half Catholics and 75 priests, with a 45 to 50 per cent rate of (Mass) attendance. Those 75 priests are not going to be interested in organizing marriage meetings," said Farrell.

He said the Church in Ireland would have to adapt to this lay model of Church governance, due to "sheer numbers."

The Dublin diocese - with a comparable number of Catholics to Dallas - currently has over 400 priests, but that number is dropping as fewer and fewer men are being ordained to replace clergy that die or retire.

"We have to worry about the 99 per cent, about the baptized, and not worry about the other things we have been obsessed with," Farrell said.

The cardinal said this would lead to a less clericalized Church, which is a good thing. Continue reading

• Image: Dallas News

He has added a reference to the dicastery's responsibility for promoting deeper reflection on the role of women in the church and society.

"The dicastery works to deepen the reflection on the relationship between men and women in their respective specificity, reciprocity, complementarity and equal dignity," the new statutes say.

"Valuing the feminine 'genius,' it offers a contribution to ecclesial reflection on the identity and mission of women in the church and in society, promoting their participation."

The new statutes, which Francis has approved "on an experimental basis," eliminate a requirement that the office has three separate sections — for laity, for family and for life — each presided over by an undersecretary.

Now the office will have "at least two lay undersecretaries."

The dicastery must "in accordance with the principles of collegiality, synodality and subsidiarity," maintain relations with national bishops' conferences, dioceses and other church groups and promote collaboration among them.

It must also offer "guidelines for training programmes for engaged couples preparing for marriage, and for young married couples."

These guidelines respond to Amoris Laetitia's requirement to improve marriage preparation programmes.

Other amendments to the dicastery's work involve:

• extra responsibility for the pastoral care in relation to 'irregular' situations' - such as cohabiting couples and couples who are divorced and civilly remarried
• care for youths and young adults, promoting their involvement in the church and advocating for their needs in society.

Source

• The Tablet
• CruxNow
• Image: Saint Christine's Parish