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Vatican says lay people must not give sermons in crackdown on liturgical abuses
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VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican insisted Friday that lay people must not deliver sermons or preach the Gospel during mass, issuing a new directive to crack down on practices that are becoming increasingly frequent in the United States and Europe. The document, commissioned by Pope John Paul, softened a draft that had discouraged the use of altar girls and denounced such practices as applauding and dancing during mass. But it was still likely to raise concern among Roman Catholics and - if followed - will likely change the way liturgies are celebrated worldwide. Francis Cardinal Arinze, whose Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued the document, said the majority of priests celebrate mass correctly and stressed the directive was not intended to be "repressive" but merely to remind Catholics of church teaching. However, the document said some practices were "not infrequently" plaguing masses, and that in some places "the perpetration of liturgical abuses has become almost habitual, a fact which obviously cannot be allowed and must cease." The directive restated church teaching on all aspects of the liturgy, from the type of vestments a priest should wear, to the timing of his prayers and the types of bread and wine used at communion. It paid particular attention to the role of lay people in the mass - an issue of particular concern in places where priests are increasingly in short supply. In the United States, for example, where more than 3,000 of the 19,000 parishes did not have a resident priest last year, lay people have taken on a greater role, sometimes leading worship services and delivering homilies. But the document said only priests and deacons may read the Gospel and priests "should ordinarily" deliver the homily, in which biblical readings are often interpreted for worshippers. The priest may occasionally delegate the homily to a deacon "but never to a lay person." If there is no priest to celebrate mass, a bishop may name a lay person as an "extraordinary minister of holy communion" - but that should only be when necessity dictates it and for a specific time, the document said. It said anyone conscious of being in grave sin shouldn't receive communion without going to confession - a regulation that prompted questions about whether priests should deny Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry communion because of his support for abortion rights. Arinze told a news conference that U.S. bishops should decide about Kerry. When pressed about the church's general position about Catholic politicians who are "unambiguously pro-abortion," Arinze said they should be denied communion because they are "not fit" to receive it. The document also touched on other aspects of the mass which are likely to resonate in the United States, Canada and elsewhere: - The gesture of exchanging the peace greeting should only be done "to those who are nearest and in a sober manner." In many U.S. parishes, the exchange can go on for some time, with the priest greeting many worshippers. - The introduction of rites taken from other religions into mass is forbidden, and priests may not celebrate mass in a temple or sacred place of any non-Christian religion. - Priests should be careful not to allow non-Catholics and non-Christians to take communion. - It is "altogether laudable" to use altar boys at mass; girls and women may also be used. John Paul commissioned the document last year after issuing an encyclical - his most authoritative type of teaching - on abuses concerning communion, the sacrament in which Roman Catholics believe they receive the blood and body of Christ. The Vatican issued a new directive Friday to crack down on what it called abuses in celebrating mass. Here are some highlights from the document: - Only priests and deacons may read the Gospel, and a priest "should ordinarily" deliver the homily. He may occasionally delegate it to a deacon "but never to a lay person." - If there is no priest to celebrate mass or necessity otherwise requires it, a bishop may delegate a lay person as an "extraordinary minister of holy communion" for a specific time. - Anyone conscious of being in grave sin shouldn't celebrate or accept communion without going to confession first. - Priests may not deny sacraments to Roman Catholics who are seeking them "in a reasonable manner, are rightly disposed and are not prohibited by law from receiving them. Hence, any baptized Catholic who is not prevented by law must be admitted to Holy Communion." - It is "laudable" to use altar boys at mass; girls or women may also be used. - "The reprobated practice by which priests, deacons or the faithful here and there vary at will the texts of the sacred liturgy that they are charged to pronounce must cease. . . . It is illicit to omit or substitute the prescribed biblical readings on one's own initiative." - The gesture of exchanging the peace greeting should only be done "to those who are nearest and in a sober manner." - The introduction of rites taken from other religions into mass is forbidden. Priests may not celebrate mass in a temple or sacred place of any non-Christian religion. - "Care should be taken lest out of ignorance non-Catholics or even non-Christians come forward for holy communion." - It is "unthinkable" to substitute ecumenical services or other common prayer services for Sunday mass. - Defrocked priests may not celebrate the sacraments. - Bishops do have flexibility to adapt the mass to the particular church building, audience or circumstances so that it is understood. NICOLE WINFIELD |
© The Canadian Press, 2003 |
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