Posted on 02/11/2005 1:08:52 PM PST by B Knotts
Lay sermons permitted, Vatican tells Swiss bishops. Proposals by Swiss bishops to allow lay theologians to give sermons and Protestants to receive Communion have met with the approval of the Curia in Rome, Bishop Amédée Grab, president of the Swiss bishops' conference, said this week.
The Swiss church is having to cope with a shortage of priests and in an effort to deal with the crisis its bishops' conference has come up with controversial plans to make greater use of the laity serving as pastoral assistants. The Swiss bishops' conference has now declared that the assistants (who hold university degrees in theology) are to be allowed to preach during Mass and baptise whenever a priest was not available. The bishops, who announced to journalists following their return from their ad limina visit to Rome that they have secured Curial backing for their plans, have also secured the necessary permission for the Protestant partner in a mixed marriage to receive the Eucharist in a Catholic Church. The general secretary of the Swiss bishops' conference, Agnell Rickenmann, said that the two declarations were partly a response to the shortage of priests in Switzerland, but also reflected the Swiss Church's "independence". He said: "In Switzerland we have a 30-year tradition of theologically trained lay people active in the Church."
...
The head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, had told the Swiss bishops that in emergency cases lay theologians could hold a "brief sermon-like discourse" or a meditation based on the Mass for the day but that this should not be allowed to become the "general norm".
(Excerpt) Read more at thetablet.co.uk ...
"Syracuse University is not a catholic college..."
Sorry xsmommy. I had my wires crossed.
I was thinking Seattle University, owned by the Jesuits.
But then again, it isn't really a Catholic college either.
It's in the Polish section of town, and that's all you need to know, really. I've always admired the way the Polish carry their Faith.
I attended a Polish Mass there on Christmas day. Didn't mean to, thought it was the regular English NO.
But while I was thinking about how odd it felt to hear Mass, with no ability to follow along in the language in which it was being offered, I thought to myself, if the Tridentine is ever disallowed here, or my own Our Lady of Victory falls into the hands of a heretic, I'll attend the Polish Mass, so that if and when they begin promulgating heresy or sowing confusion, I'll never know the difference.
oh there are plenty of those, aren't there? my oldest daughter is a sophomore at an all-girls catholic HS which isn't terribly catholic either. their lenten reflections in religion class this past week focused on the UNJUST war in Iraq and Abu Gharib, instead of perhaps more personal sins that perhaps they could do something about. it drives my husband and i insane. and my daughter also, who does her part to inject the CATHOLIC viewpoint whenever she can.
unfortunately, much of what goes on in the Church these days disrespects God.
"...their lenten reflections in religion class this past week focused on the UNJUST war in Iraq and Abu Gharib, instead of perhaps more personal sins that perhaps they could do something about."
That kind of "religious instruction" drives me wild. Unfortunately it is much too common.
i will definitely make note of your suggestions regarding the good churches in upstate NY. my husband's family is up there and also since my son plays travel ice hockey we end up there a fair amount.
my proudest moment, was prior to the election when there was a discussion of whether you could be catholic and be in favor of abortion and the NUN that teaches the class did not say you couldn't, my daughter brought in the Catholic catechism and asked to be permitted to read aloud from it's rather unambiguous language on the issue of abortion.
Her ministry involves some work with hospice, I think, and as she was getting tangent-y she happened to remark, 'did you know that the US is the only major country that doesn't have socialized health care?'
Again, I wanted to bolt. I don't come to Church to hear social critique of my country.
It's disgraceful that the faithful have to church shop at all, let alone to the degree in which they have to.
xsmommy, I'm usually not this bleak or crabby, but after reading this I'm feeling unusually disgruntled and militant.
"...after reading this I'm feeling unusually disgruntled and militant."
You are not the Lone Ranger. I feel this way after almost every Mass in my modernist parish.
we travel a fair amount and attend Mass when we do so, i feel fortunate to live in the diocese in which we live and to attend this particular church. some of what passes for Masses and some of what you hear in homilies is enough to make anyone disgruntled and militant. we left after communion at the Jamba Father Mass in Syracuse, because we were so disquieted by the departures from the norm of the Mass. My husband and son were so outraged over the girlie from the "audience" being tapped to give the homily, in the rock Mass in Rochester, that my husband exclaimed aloud and they walked out then and there.
In the meantime, I'm selling my house and moving my family to live coser to a Tridentine parish....I should be doing renovations right now but the Religion forum is too gripping...sorta like watching a house fire, some of us shake our heads and weep while others marvel at the light show while breaking out marshmellows to toast.
That was my understanding as well. However after reading through the GIRM with the Liturgy Commission at our church, I have found that they are indeed allowed. A priest or a deacon may give the homily. That said, homily time is not the time for a nun or layperson to step up to the podium and solicit donations or tell you their life story or whatever, it is really supposed to expound on the gospel.
That will be enough of that, Sinkspur. You know how much it irks me to agree with you. ;)
There are exceptions.
Our parish has adopted a set of missions in Bolivia, and the nun who administers them comes up once a year to give us an "update", and it's done during the homily. Usually very inspirational.
We also just completed three "Stewardship weekends." On one of them, a layman got up and detailed how he came to become involved in, in his case, the lector program and taking the Eucharist to the homebound. He did this during homily time.
"He did this during homily time."
What is wrong with the time right before the blessing at the end of Mass?
The GIRM makes no provision for this kind of a report at the time of the homily.
65. The homily is part of the Liturgy and is strongly recommended,63 for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life. It should be an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or from the Proper of the Mass of the day and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners.64
66. 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.65 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.
This is of course the standard and for good reason. The rubrics are broken always in the name of a "good cause". That is always the justification for disobedience. It's as American as Huckleberry Finn. I do not dispute the goodness of the cause, merely the timing for the pronouncements of that cause. There is no need for disobedience to the GIRM. You have used it to defend your own positions on this forum and rightly so. The American Catholic Church has selectively disregarded those portions of Sacrosanctum Concilium and the Girm which apparently lack the sophistication due a progressive-oriented liturgy.
I cannot see why at the end of Mass the priest cannot simply ask for some more time for the inspirational speeches from the nun outside of the Mass.
Finally got a response by email from swissinfo.com
"Dear reader,
Thanks for your email. It is our understanding that lay pastoral assistants are allowed to preach during Mass, but not deliver the main homily. They would not conduct the Mass.
Protestants cannot at present receive Communion in the Catholic Church. The Swiss bishops have said that Protestants should be allowed to receive Communion under certain circumstances.
Hope this answers your questions.
Regards,
swissinfo"
Ping.
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