{"id":16596,"date":"2026-06-24T06:06:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T06:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/?p=16596"},"modified":"2026-06-24T03:17:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T03:17:32","slug":"vatican-to-german-bishops-no-lay-people-preaching-homilies-at-mass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/?p=16596","title":{"rendered":"“Vatican to German bishops: No lay people preaching homilies at Mass”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Does not mean laypersons cannot speak on issues – for example promoting CCD or about prolife issues. It just cannot be subbed for the homily or in a place – right after the Gospel – where a homily is normally done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short article in America Magazine, the Jesuit publication. The link will get you a bit more information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cLay faithful may not preach during the celebration of the Eucharist in the place intended for the homily,\u201d Cardinal Arthur Roche, the prefect of the Vatican\u2019s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, wrote in a June 17 letter responding to the request.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The June 17 letter, along with the German bishops\u2019 original request, was published in German on the website<\/a> of the German Bishops\u2019 Conference on June 23. (The English translations in this article are not official translations as none have been published.) The same day, the Vatican\u2019s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published a press release<\/a> on the matter, taking the unusual step of publishing it exclusively in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dicastery\u2019s decision appears to ban any lay preaching immediately after the Gospel, arguing that its \u201cplace\u201d and \u201cfunction\u2026essentially coincide with those of the homily itself,\u201d raising questions about lay preaching, which is currently practiced<\/a> in nearby Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The German \u201cSynodal Way<\/a>,\u201d a reform and discernment process involving lay people and bishops that has previously experienced tensions with the Vatican, has discussed lay ministries at length. Ultimately, 90 percent of the bishops participating in the Synodal Way\u2014a majority of German bishops\u2014voted in favor of requesting that the Vatican allow \u201ctheologically and spiritually qualified\u201d lay people \u201cwho are commissioned by the bishop\u201d to preach the homily on Sundays and feast days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cardinal Roche opened his letter of June 17 to the German bishops by expressing his \u201csincere gratitude for the pastoral concern underlying this request and for the desire to ensure appropriate spiritual care for the communities entrusted to you.\u201d However, he said, no indult could be granted because the homily is \u201can integral part of the liturgy\u201d and \u201cinseparably connected with the proclamation of the Gospel and with presiding over the celebration,\u201d and thus reserved to priests and deacons. He cited a St. John Paul II-era instruction, \u201cRedemptionis Sacramentum<\/a>,\u201d reaffirming that lay people cannot give the homily during Mass, \u201ceven under designation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prefect wrote that an exception could not be justified by the \u201cserious pastoral considerations\u201d or \u201cbetter theological preparation or communicative ability on the part of the lay faithful\u201d that Bishop Wilmer had raised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a key passage that could have implications beyond Germany, Cardinal Roche wrote that the ban on lay homilies applies to any preaching that happens just after the Gospel, \u201csince the proposed place\u2014immediately after the Gospel\u2014and the function exercised essentially coincide with those of the homily itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does not mean laypersons cannot speak on issues – for example promoting CCD or about prolife issues. It just cannot be subbed for the homily or in a place – right after the Gospel – where a homily is normally done. Short article in America Magazine, the Jesuit publication. The link will get you a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-stuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16596"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16598,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16596\/revisions\/16598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}