Catholic laity
[7] Jus novum (c. 1140-1563) Jus novissimum (c. 1563-1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of the faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life Within the Catholic Church, the rights of the Catholic laity in regards to the Church are found in the Code of Canon Law.
As a result of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, on 15 August 1972 Pope Paul VI issued the motu proprio Ministeria quaedam[9] which suppressed the minor orders and replaced them with two ministries, those of lector and acolyte.
A major difference was: "Ministries may be assigned to lay Christians; hence they are no longer to be considered as reserved to candidates for the sacrament of orders.
[10][11] In place of instituted ministries, there is widespread use of commissioned or temporarily designated readers, altar servers and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, which can be undertaken by both men and women.
In relation to readers, Instruction #101 says: "In the absence of an instituted lector, other laypersons may be commissioned to proclaim the readings from Sacred Scripture.
"[12] An option to institute the other minor orders was retained in this document, in that a Bishops Conference may request permission from the Apostolic See "if they judge the establishment of such offices in their region to be necessary or very useful because of special reasons.
After the Council members of the Laity were routinely appointed to sit on Commissions & Committees established at every level – Curial, Bishops Conference, Diocesan, Deanery, and Parish.
The National Council for Lay Associations (NCLA) was the idea of the late Monsignor Derek Worlock, who later became Archbishop of Liverpool, England.
Legion of Mary Catholic Peopleʼs Weeks Catholic Medical Association Secular Franciscans The NCLA is an active member of ELF (European Lay Forum) The National Council of the Laity (Consejo Nacional de Laicos) in Venezuela routinely issued statements and press releases often criticising the policies of former President Hugo Chávez.
[15][16] This is a body that brings together the Laity in the Catholic Church in Uganda who are estimated at 34.1 million in the country making it around 39.3% of the total population in 2014.
This document was very publicly rejected by Pope John Paul II when it was presented to him by Cardinal Hume and Archbishop Worlock in Rome, Italy, in 1980.
There are many thousands of Catholic lay organisations existing at a local, diocesan, national / bishops conference or international level.
The Foundation, an association of lay faithful dedicated to fostering devotion to Mary, Mother of Jesus, is a volunteer group of lay men and women who "...strive together in a common endeavor to foster a more perfect life for themselves and their community by promoting reverence for the Blessed Virgin Mary, in whose name, as Our Lady of the Angels, the City and Archdiocese of Los Angeles were founded..." and whom Catholics revere as Queen of Heaven and Empress of the Americas.
[26] Richard Rouse, an English layman who works for the Pontifical Council for Culture, has stated that this meeting was not held in any attempt by the Vatican to control Catholic blogs.
Other countries where interest in such an effort has emerged are Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the United States.
[34] In April 2011, during a conference in Milwaukee, United States, on the clergy child sex abuse scandal, the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said: "There are signs of a new clericalism, which may even at times be ably veiled behind appeals for deeper spirituality or for more orthodox theological positions."
Martin added that he planned to require all seminarians to "carry out some part of their formation with lay people so that they can establish mature relationships with men and women and not develop any sense of their priesthood giving them a special social position.
"[35] Pope Francis has endeavored in many ways to lift up the laity in the Church, with "continual blasting of clericalism and his references to the “one, holy People of God'.
[40] A classic example of clericalism comes from Monsignor George Talbot in 1867, in his critique of the position of John Henry Newman in his article "On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine",[41] which was published in the Rambler in July 1859.
[43] After publishing "On Consulting..." Newman was looked upon with grave suspicion and distrust by many of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales, and in Rome where Talbot had worked in the Papal Curia.
[43] Newman was made a Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879; Talbot, whose "notorious want of judgment" was noted by the biographer C. Butler, died in an asylum at Passy near Paris in 1886.
