FAQs ABOUT THE LAITY AND THE LAITY COUNCIL
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE TERM “LAITY”?
We would like to start treating the subject of this Chapter by
first of all defining the term “Laity” as a background to understanding the
meaning of the term “Laity Council”.
The current Code of Canon Law was promulgated by His Holiness,
Pope John Paul II in 1983, Canon 207,1 tells us
that Catholic Church on earth is made up of two main groups namely;- the Clergy and the Laity. ‘By divine
institution, among Christ’s faithful there are in the Church sacred ministers,
who in law are also called clerics, the others are called lay people.’
The Laity is, in particular, the dicastery that assists
the Priest in all matters concerning the contribution the lay faithful make to
the life and mission of the Parish, whether as individuals or through the
various forms of association that have arisen and constantly arise within the
Church.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE LAITY?
The origin of the Laity goes back to the
Pontifical Council for the laity proposed and formulated in the Decree on the
Lay Apostolate of the Second Vatican Council (cfr. Apostolicam Actuositatem, n. 26). It was
officially created by Paul VI on 6 January 1967 with the motu proprio Catholicam
Christi Ecclesiam. Ten years later, on 10 December 1976, with another motu
proprio, Apostolatus Peragendi, Paul VI reformed the Council, including it
among the permanent dicasteries of the Roman Curia.
Having grown “in experience and maturity” and
given “clear signs of faithful service and of the importance of its tasks for
the life of the Church and the ministry of the Pope”, it has been constantly encouraged
by John Paul II—who, as Archbishop of Krakow, was for years one of its
Consultors —and has been confirmed in the exercise of its specific
responsibilities. Its structure and its competence were defined essentially by
the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus of 28 June 1988, the document
with which John Paul II traced the new outlines of the Roman Curia.
The Constitution states that “the Pontifical
Council for the Laity is competent in those matters pertaining to the Apostolic
See in promoting and coordinating the apostolate of the laity and, generally,
in those matters respecting the Christian life of lay people as such” (art.
131); it is “to urge and support lay people to participate in the life and
mission of the Church in their own way, as individuals or in associations,
especially so that they may carry out their special responsibility of filling
the realm of temporal things with the spirit of the Gospel” (art. 133); it
“fosters joint action among lay people in catechetical instruction, in
liturgical and sacramental life as well as in works of mercy, charity and
social development”; and “it attends to and organizes international conferences
and other projects concerning the apostolate of the laity” (ibid.).
Finally, the Constitution Pastor Bonus states that “within the
parameters of its own competence, the Council performs all activities
respecting lay associations of the Christian faithful; it erects associations
of an international character and provides approval or recognition for their
statutes, saving the competence of the Secretariat of State. As for secular
third orders, the Council deals only with those matters concerning their
apostolic activities” (art. 134).
WHO ARE
THE PEOPLE THAT CONSTITUTE THE CLERGY OR CLERICS?
They are the Bishops, Priests and Deacons as stated in Nos. 18-29
of Lumen Gentium, Vatican, II and
Canons 1008-1009. ‘By divine institution some among Christ’s faithful are,
through the sacrament of order, marked with indelible character and are thus
constituted sacred ministers; thereby they are consecrated and deputed so that,
each according to his own grade, they fulfill, in the person of Christ the
Head, the offices of teaching, sanctifying and ruling, and so they nourish the
people of God.
They are conferred by the imposition of hands and the prayer of
consecration which the liturgical books prescribe for each grade.’ Therefore
any Catholic who is not a Bishop, Priest or Deacon is a lay person. All the lay
people are collectively called the laity. In other words, all the lay people
put together constitute the laity. They make-up about 99% of the Church. It is
important to stress the point of who constitute the Laity because I discovered
during my tour of all the then 33 Catholic Dioceses in Nigeria, 1987-1989, that
most lay Catholics did not know that they constitute the laity so they felt
unconcerned when we talked of the laity and the laity council as if they are
not members of the laity.
This ignorance still exists among some Lay Catholics and that is
one of the reasons why we have decided to start writing this Chapter by first
of all attempting to define what we mean by the term laity. Some people thought that because they are
members of some organizations, associations, or movements in the Church, they
are not Lay People and that is one of the reasons why the Annual National Laity
Week Activities are poorly attended. We want to wipe out this ignorance once
and for all. If a Catholic is not a Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, whether he is a
Papal Knight, Knight of St. Mulumba, Knight of St. John, member of the Catholic
Women Organization, Christian Mother, Christian Fathers, Zumuntan Matan
Katolika, Catholic Men Organization, Catholic Youth Organization, Catholic
Boys/Girls Organization, Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Legion of Mary, St.
Anthony or Jude Society, Blue Army, St. Vincent de Paul, etc, such a person is
still a Lay Catholic and therefore a member of the Laity.
The basic difference between the Clergy and the Laity is that, the
former are ordained while the latter are not. There are two types of priesthood,
the Common and the Ministerial. All Christ’s faithful i.e. both the Clergy and the Laity share the common priesthood but
only the ordained (Clergy) share the ministerial priesthood hence priests are
called Sacred Ministers. We should therefore understand the Lay Person’s
sharing of the priestly, prophetic and kingly functions of Christ does not make
him a sacred minister. The Ministerial
and Common priesthood differ in
essence and not just degree in their participation in Church’s priesthood, but
both are called to mutual effort in the work of the Church.
The Religion
Canon 207.2 say, “Drawn from both from groups are those of
Christ’s faithful who, professing the evangelical counsels through vows or
other sacred bonds recognized and approved by the Church, are consecrated to
God in their own special way and promote the salvific mission of the Church.
Their state, although it does not belong to the hierarchical structure of the
Church, does pertain to its life and holiness’. (…both groups…) here refer to
the clergy and the laity. The two main groups that make up the Church.
Who are those drawn from the Clergy?
They are the priests who belong to religious orders. The other
Rev. Fathers who do not belong to any religious order are Diocesan priests or
Diocesan Clergy. Today in Nigeria, the Diocesan Clergy form the bulk of the
priests.
Who are those drawn from the Laity?
They are the Religious Brothers and Sisters commonly referred to
as Rev. Brothers and Sisters. They are lay people who have taken vows or other
sacred bonds recognized and approved by the Church. The difference between them
and other lay people is that they have taken vows or other sacred bonds. This
group of lay people and the priests who belong to religious orders are put
together and called religious. They have their superiors and major superiors
(male and female).
THE LAITY
COUNCIL
Vatican II and the Code of Canon Law allow each of the two groups
namely, the clergy and the laity to establish its council for effective
evangelization, co-ordination, good administration and for overall interest of
the Church, though every diocese is authorized by Canon 511 – 514 to establish
a Diocesan Pastoral Council, nobody seems to be worried about the existence of
a council of priests or a conference of male/female religious except that of
the laity council which has met very strong opposition from some priests. Some
priests ask why we should establish a Law Council when there is a Pastoral
Council while others say the establishment of a Laity
Council has no legal backing.
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