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Laity in the Stable Ministry - Merlin Rengith Ambrose
Corporate Law (BLAW 2001)
Savitribai Phule Pune University
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Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, Vol. 87/6 June 2023 p.
MERLIN RENGITH AMBROSE
VJTR 87 (2023) 440-
LAY MINISTRY OF CATECHIST
In Light of the Apostolic Letter
Antiquum Ministerium
Dr. Merlin Rengith AMBROSE
The author <merlinrengith@gmail> is a priest from the diocese of Kottar. He holds PhD in Canon Law & Post-Graduate Diploma in Canonical Jurisprudence-Praxis from the Pontifical Urban University, Rome. He has diplomas in Study of Canonization Process at the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, in Administrative Canonical Praxis, and in Priestly Formation at the Dicastery for the Clergy. He is a teaching faculty at St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute, Bangalore and Executive Secretary of the Commission for Canon Law in the CCBI.
Abstract: Following the publication of the Directory for Catechesis, Pope Francis wrote a new Apostolic Letter in the form of a “Motu Proprio” establishing the ministry of the catechist. This article summarizes the document’s salient features, emphasizing the lay faithful’s role in the catechist ministry. The institution of this ministry, together with the lay ministries of lector and acolyte, will make it possible to have a better-prepared laity in the transmission of the faith. The catechist collaborates with the local bishop and priests in the teaching of the faith to the local community and can be especially beneficial in places where priests and religious are scarce.
Keywords: Ministry, Catechist, Antiquum Ministerium, Baptismal Vocation, Stable Ministry, Tria Munera.
- Introduction “I establish the lay ministry of catechist” (Istituisco il ministero laicale di catechista). 1 With these words, Pope Francis desires
1 Pope Francis, Motu Proprio Antiquum Ministerium (10 May 2021), no. 8; https:/ vatican/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papa-francesco- motu-proprio-20210510_antiquum-ministerium (accessed on 10.05).
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to fundamentally change the Catholic Church from within. The words appear towards the end of a six-page Apostolic Letter given as Motu Proprio Antiquum Ministerium (“Ancient Ministry”), released on 10 May 2021. This document breathes new life into the ancient ministry of catechists. This Apostolic Letter instituted the lay ministry of the catechist through a rite to be determined by the Dicastery of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. 2 The move comes after Pope Francis’ decision to officially extend the functions of acolyte and lector to women by virtue of their baptism with his Motu Proprio Spiritus Domini on 10 January 2021, which modified Canon 230 of CIC 1983. Since Pope Francis was elected in 2013, he has been a great advocate for the increasing role of the laity in the Church. He has instituted and strengthened various lay ministries through the release of numerous documents. This is utmost important because as mentioned in GC 34 of Jesuits, lay ministry is “a grace of our time and a hope for the future.” 3 The Holy Father’s interventions orient reflection on the ministries towards the future while at the same time deepening the reflection already begun by Pope Paul VI with the Motu Proprio Ministeria Quaedam, issued on 15 August 1972, which opened the windows for various lay ministries. The Motu Proprio Antiquum Ministerium is a short document, about 2500 words long, that calls for the establishment of lay catechists through stronger formation throughout the world. Just as lay ministers serve as lectors, cantors, and extraordinary ministers of holy communion to support the liturgical life of the Church, now the lay ministry of catechist will be recognized formally as a vital support to the evangelizing mission of the Church. 2 Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Ritus De Institutione Catechistarum (13 December 2021), in Communicationes 53 (2021): 499-505; press.vatican/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/ pubblico/2021/12/13/0845/01772 (accessed on 10.05). 3 Quoted in Edwin Rodrigues, “Lay-Clergy Collaboration: A Call for a Course Correction,” Vidyajyoti 86/11 (2022): 806.
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aspects of the Church, such as Mystery, Body of Christ, Sacrament, Communion, and People of God. As a result of this new understanding of the Church, a new approach to the understanding of ministries within the Church is appropriate. As a result of this renewed understanding of the Church, the previous medieval hierarchical conception has been de-emphasized and the active participation of all members has been emphasized. In Apostolicam Actuositatem, the Decree on Lay Apostolate, the Church strongly emphasizes the role of lay people in the Church’s mission and they are considered an indispensable part of that mission (AA 1). Lay people are now to function in collaboration with priests. As a result of Vatican II, all baptized persons are expected to use their God-given gifts in order to edify the Church. The apostolate of the laity derives from their Christian vocation and the Church can never be without it (AA 1). The Church’s Code of Canon Law defined the laity only by exclusion: a lay person is a Catholic who is not a member of the clergy (Canon 207). 7 Heretofore, the laity were constricted to the role of paying, praying, and obeying. However, Vatican II affirms strongly that the laity are the Church, co-responsible with bishops, priests, and religious for Christ’s mission on earth. 8 Reading the “signs of the times” in the 1960s, the widening gap between the modern world and the message of the Gospel, necessitated the empowerment of the laity to bring the Gospel in the marketplace.
2 Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region The possibility of further developing ministries was also discussed during the Synod on the Amazon (6 - 27 October 2019). Subsequently, Pope Francis wrote two Apostolic Letters addressing the situation:
and Post Conciliar Documents, Vol. 1 (Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2010), 320-385. 7 Cf. also Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, no. 31. 8 Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, no. 30 and Chapter 2: The People of God which refers to all.
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(i) Spiritus Domini, 9 published on 10 January 2021, allowed women to participate in the Lectorate and Acolytate ministries; (ii) Antiquum Ministerium, published on 10 May 2021, instituted the ministry of Catechist. These two interventions are made possible because of the spirit of Vatican II that had inspired Pope Paul VI. As part of Amazonian features, a Church must have mature lay leaders with authority and familiarity with the languages, cultures, spiritual experience, and communal way of life in the different places, as well as being open to the variety of gifts that the Holy Spirit bestows upon everyone. For wherever there is a particular need, he has already poured out the charisms that can meet it. The Church must therefore trust in and allow the growth of an ecclesial culture that is distinctively lay. It is necessary that the laity participate vigorously, broadly, and actively in the Church’s presence in the Amazon region due to the challenges it faces. 10 In his post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Querida Amazonia (2 February 2020) that followed the 2019 Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis recalled the “strong and generous women who, prompted by the Holy Spirit, baptized, catechized, prayed and acted as missionaries.” 11 Indeed, CIC 1983 envisages lay people as catechists who collaborate with the teaching office of their priests and bishops (cf. Canon 776) 12 and as significant aids 9 Francis, Motu Proprio Spiritus Domini (10 January 2021), in Communicationes 53 (2021), 66-67. 10 Pope Francis, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Querdia Amazonia ( February 2020), no. 94, vatican/content/francesco/en/ apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20200202_ querida-amazonia (accessed on 10.05). 11 Querida Amazonia, no. 99. 12 Can. 776: “By virtue of his office, the parish priest is bound to ensure the catechetical formation of adults, young people and children. To this end, he is to avail himself of the help of clerics attached to the parish, as well as of members of institutes of consecrated life and of societies of apostolic life, being mindful of the character of each institute; and the assistance of lay members of Christ’s faithful, especially catechists. All of these, unless they are lawfully impeded, are not to refuse to give their labours willingly.”
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priesthood and religious life as well as an exodus from the Church of many who no longer have any formal religious affiliation. While Christianity is currently the predominant religion in Latin America, Europe, Canada, and the United States, it is steadily declining in many of these areas, especially in Western Europe, North America, and some countries of Oceania. Anyone who is serving in the Church today knows that the crisis is real, tangible, and ongoing. The crisis is multifaceted but it stems ultimately from a crisis of faith that has affected every dimension of ecclesial life, perhaps especially the spectrum of catechesis. In Antiquum Ministerium, Pope Francis acknowledges this decline, referring to Ad Gentes, the Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church. He states, “In our days, when there are so few clerics to evangelize such great multitudes and to carry out the pastoral ministry, the role of catechist is of the highest importance.” 15 Therefore, the issuing of Antiquum Ministerium is the continuation of a long line of catechetical works following the close of the Council addressing the need for authentic witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a secular and post-Christian age.
2 Baptismal Call The vocation of the laity to catechesis springs from the sacrament of Baptism. Confirmation strengthens this bond. Through the sacraments of baptism and confirmation, they participate in the tria munera, i., priestly, prophetic, and kingly ministry of Christ. 16 According to Canon 747 §1, the deposit of faith is entrusted to all and all have the task to keep it inviolate and faithfully proclaim and expound it; catechesis is a way of life for all who have been baptised and confirmed. 17 The need to recognize lay
15 Antiquum Ministerium, no. 4; Vatican Council II, Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church Ad Gentes (7 December 1965), no. 17, in AAS 58 (1966): 968. 16 Lumen Gentium, nos. 31, 37. 17 Cited in Joseph Tobin, “Diocesan Bishop as Catechist,” Studia Canonica 18 (1984): 412.
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men and women who feel called by virtue of their baptism to cooperate in catechesis is essential in the context of evangelisation in today’s world. Highlighted above all is the fact that it is a lay ministry that has as a foundation the common condition of being baptized and the royal priesthood received in the Sacrament of Baptism and is essentially different from the Ordained Ministry received in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. It also points out that catechists, in virtue of Baptism, are called to be co-responsible in the local Church for the proclamation and transmission of the faith, carrying out such a function in collaboration with the Ordained Ministers and under their guidance. 18 In his Letter to the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences on the Rite of Institution of Catechists, Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Congregation (now Dicastery) for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments prescribes that “the exercise of this lay ministry fully expresses the consequences of being baptised and, in the particular situation of the lack of a stable presence of ordained ministers, it is a participation in their pastoral action.” 19
- Division of the Motu Proprio Antiquum Ministerium Antiquum ministerium is a short document consisting of only 11 numbers. It can be divided into three parts on the basis of its content. i) The initial part (nos. 1-3) portrays how the lay ministries, the ministry of catechist in particular, have been fundamental in the history of the Church, ranging from the epoch of the early Church until today. ii) The central part (nos. 4-8a) traces the physiognomy of the figure of the catechist and the importance of ministerial dynamics
18 Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Letter to the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences On the Rite of Institution of Catechist (13 December 2021), no. 4 (henceforth, On the Rite of Institution of Catechist), press.vatican/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2021/12/13/ 211213f (accessed on 10.05). 19 On the Rite of Institution of Catechist, no. 12.
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4 The Vocation of the Catechist A noticeable emphasis of Antiquum Ministerium is the use of the term “vocation” in reference to catechists. 20 In establishing a lay ministry of catechist, Pope Francis recognizes that the Church needs to be more intentional in forming and deploying lay catechists to build up the body of Christ. The laity who recognize a calling to serve in this capacity must also be discerned, assisted, and supported by her. The Church awakens and discerns this divine vocation and confers the mission to catechize. It is the Lord Jesus who invites both men and women to follow him, as teacher and formator of disciples, in a special way. This personal call of Jesus Christ and its relationship to him are the true moving forces of catechetical activity. 21 The concept of catechesis as a vocation for the lay faithful is not a novel idea. As a matter of fact, it has its roots in our baptism as well as St. Paul’s doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ. “The call to the ministry of catechist is a vocation, an interior call, the voice of the Holy Spirit.” 22 By virtue of the sacramental power of baptism and the growing efficacy of the other sacraments, the catechist is born within the Church. A culmination of this process of growth is the ecclesial call. The Church exists to evangelize. In his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI raises an interesting question, “At every new phase of human history, the Church, constantly gripped by the desire to evangelize, has one preoccupation: whom to send to proclaim the mystery of Christ?” 23 The discernment of catechists for the work of labour in the Lord’s vineyard is of crucial importance. From the outset of her mission
20 Antiquum Ministerium, nos. 8; On the Rite of Institution of Catechist, no. 7. 21 Congregation for the Clergy, General Directory for Catechesis (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997), 231. 22 Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, National Catechetical Directory, Bangalore, 228. 23 Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975), no. 22, in AAS 68 (1976): 20.
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for the salvation of souls, the Church has always had a missionary character. The Church does not exist to remain dormant, but to proclaim the good news with passion, vigour, and conviction. To accomplish this task, it needs well-formed disciples to answer the call to be catechists. To underscore the vocational aspect of the catechist, Pope Francis takes inspiration from Lumen Gentium, no. 31 and states: “In their daily life, interwoven with family and social relationships, the laity come to realize that they ‘are given a special vocation: to make the Church present and fruitful in those places and circumstances where it is only through them that she can become salt of the earth.’” 24 It is obvious that the Church considers the work of catechesis not as a job but as a vocation. Vocation is a gift given to a member of the Church by the Holy Spirit to be used for the building-up of the Church. The life of a catechist must be filled with gratitude to God for the gift he/she has been given.
4 Eligible for the Institution of Ministry of Catechist Pope Francis’ letter stipulates that lay persons called to be instituted in the ministry of catechist should have “deep faith and human maturity,” and should be “active participants in the life of the Christian community, and capable of welcoming others, being generous and living a life of fraternal communion.” 25 Bishops’ conferences will be responsible for deciding “the necessary process of formation and the normative criteria for admission” to the new ministry. 26 Prior experience in catechesis is also a prerequisite. 27 It is obvious that not everyone who is a catechist today will have access to the ministry of Catechist. A key consideration is a vocational dimension, which implies a willingness to serve the Church where the bishop considers it 24 Antiquum Ministerium, no. 6. 25 Antiquum Ministerium, no. 8. 26 Antiquum Ministerium, no. 9. 27 Antiquum Ministerium, no. 8; Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, On the Rite of Institution of Catechist, nos. 10, 15.
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You cannot give what you do not have. In order to participate in the economy of salvation as a catechist, one must first be converted and well-formed, answering the call to teach and receiving God’s Word with humility. The Pope writes:
Catechists are called first to be expert in the pastoral service of transmitting the faith as it develops through its different stages from the initial proclamation of the kerygma to the instruction that presents our new life in Christ and prepares for the sacraments of Christian initiation, and then to the ongoing formation that can allow each person to give an accounting of the hope within them (cf. 1 Pet 3:15). 31 The Pope prescribes that the Bishops’ conferences render effective the ministry of Catechist, establishing the necessary formation process and the normative criteria for admission. Moreover, they should devise the most appropriate forms for the service which these men and women will be called to exercise in conformity with the content of this Apostolic Letter. 32 The letter states that the task of the Episcopal Conferences is to clarify the profile, description, role, and the most coherent ways to exercise the ministry of Catechists in the territory of their competence, in line with what is indicated in Antiquum Ministerium. 33
4 Secular Character of the Lay Catechists Pope Francis reiterates the distinctly secular character of lay ministries. Pope Francis establishes the lay ministry of catechist, intended to respond to an urgent need for the evangelisation of the modern world, and undertaken in a ‘secular’ manner, avoiding clericalization. 34 Receiving the lay ministry of catechist will emphasize the missionary commitment proper to every baptised person. It needs to be fulfilled in a secular manner without falling into any expression of clericalization. 31 Antiquum Ministerium, no. 6. 32 Antiquum Ministerium, no. 9. 33 On the Rite of Institution of Catechist, no. 13; cf. Antiquum Ministerium, no. 9. 34 Antiquum Ministerium, no. 7; cf. Lumen Gentium, nos. 31, 37.
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4 In Cooperation with the Hierarchy Pope Francis advocates a participatory Church, where clergy and laity work hand in hand. This newly instituted ministry of catechists serves a particular church according to its needs. Since the instituted ministry of catechists will be installed in the local church according to pastoral needs, therefore according to Antiquum Ministerium, the instituted ministry of catechist is called to work always in cooperation with the Hierarchy. 35 Citing from Lumen Gentium, Pope Francis states: “the laity can be called in different ways to more immediate cooperation in the apostolate of the hierarchy, like those men and women who helped the apostle St. Paul in the Gospel, working hard in the Lord.” 36 Local Ordinaries establish the ministry of catechist based on pastoral needs. Those who have been instituted as lay ministers of catechesis must be “faithful co- workers of priests and deacons, available to exercise their ministry wherever it may be necessary, and motivated by true apostolic enthusiasm.” 37 This is what Canon 517 §2 of CIC 1983 affirms when it provides for the possibility of entrusting to a non-ordained person a share in the exercise of pastoral care in a parish, always under the moderation of a priest. It is necessary, therefore, to form the community so that it does not see the catechist as a substitute for the priest or deacon, but as a member of the lay faithful who lives his/her baptism “in fruitful collaboration and shared responsibility with the ordained ministers, so that their pastoral care may reach everyone.” 38 Canon 759 states that lay people can also be called upon to cooperate with bishops and priests in the exercise of the ministry of the word.
35 Antiquum Ministerium, no. 6. 36 Lumen Gentium, nos. 33, cited in Antiquum Ministerium, no. 6. 37 Antiquum Ministerium, no. 8. 38 John Paul II, Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici ( December 1988), no. 15, in AAS 81 (1989): 413, cited in On the Rite of Institution of Catechist, no. 12.
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delegated by him, confers the ministry of catechist. The detailed rite of institution is given in the document. While conferring the ministry, the celebrant pronounces the following form: “Take this token of our faith Christ’s chair of truth and charity and his life, manners and word announcing him.” The candidates’ response is: “Amen.” 43 This ministry may be conferred during Mass or during a celebration of the Word of God. Following the liturgy of the Word the structure of the rite envisages an exhortation wherein the bishop based on the adaptation of the episcopal conferences gives a sort of homily emphasizing the role and the description of the ministry of the catechist. Therefore, the Rite will follow a precise format, beginning with an exhortation to the candidate, followed by an invitation to prayer, a blessing that they receive while kneeling, and the handing over of the crucifix as a sign of their commission. 44 There is one moment when everyone is invited to share in silent prayer. 45
- Who Should Not Be Instituted as Catechist? According to the Letter of the dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to the Presidents of the Episcopal
Proprio Antiquum Ministerium, Pope Francis has approved and published an Editio typica (typical edition) that introduces a specific Rite of Institution of Catechists. This is the base text that was translated and adapted by the various Bishops’ Conferences around the world. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Ritus De Institutione Catechistarum ( December 2021), in Communicationes 53 (2021): 499-505. This came into effect on 1 January 2022. On the Vatican website, both the Latin and English texts are available. Chapter I explains the rite of instituting the catechist within the holy mass, and Chapter II enumerates the rite of instituting the catechist during the Word of God Celebration. Chapter III contains various appropriate biblical readings from the Old and New Testaments which could be made use of during the rite of the institution. 43 Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Ritus De Institutione Catechistarum (13 December 2021), no. 9. The Latin form is as follows: “Accipe hoc fidei nostrae signum, cáthedram veritátis Christi, eúmque vita, móribus et verbo annúntia.” 44 On the Rite of Institution of Catechist, nos. 16-18. 45 Ritus De Institutione Catechistarum, no. 7.
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Conferences on the Rite of Institution of Catechists on 13 December 2021, the following should not be instituted as catechists: 46 i) The candidates who have already initiated their journey towards Holy Orders, particularly candidates to the diaconate and the priesthood should not be instituted, regardless of their belonging to Institutes whose charism is catechesis. As it was discussed before, the ministry of Catechist which Antiquum Ministerium envisages is a lay ministry and is essentially different and distinct from the ordained ministry conferred on with the Sacrament of Orders. ii) Men and women religious, unless they act as leaders of a parish community or coordinators of catechetical activity, cannot become catechists. The baptized, however, can, like all baptized individuals, exercise their ministries “de facto” in the absence of instituted ministers because their baptism is also the basis of their religious profession. Thus, they can exercise due to their baptismal vocation. iii) Those who carry out a role exclusively for the members of an ecclesial movement: in this case, this role is assigned by the leaders of the movement and not by the diocesan Bishop on the basis of his discernment in relation to pastoral needs. Therefore, those who act exclusively for the members of an ecclesial movement cannot become catechists. This makes sense because a plethora of volunteer catechists serve in the initiation of children and adults, and not all of them continue in this as a stable ministry. iv) Teachers of the Catholic religion in schools unless they also perform other ecclesiastical duties for the parish or diocese. Moreover, since this institution of lay ministry has a strong vocational value, which requires due discernment on the part of the bishop and its content being defined by the Episcopal Conferences, not all those called catechists, carrying out a service of catechesis or pastoral collaboration, need to be instituted. In regard to the accompaniers of the initiation of children and adults, they don’t need to be instituted in the specific ministry, but they
46 On the Rite of Institution of Catechist, no. 8.
Laity in the Stable Ministry - Merlin Rengith Ambrose
Course: Corporate Law (BLAW 2001)
University: Savitribai Phule Pune University
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