Pope Francis changes the Code of Canon Law to institutionalize what is already allowed in practice: the access of lay women to the service of the Word and the altar. The Pope explains his decision in a letter to Cardinal Ladaria.
For Vatican News
With a Motu proprio published on Monday, Pope Francis established that from now on the ministries of Reader and Acolyte will have to be open to women, in a stable and institutionalized way through a specific mandate.
There is nothing new in women who proclaim the Word of God during liturgical celebrations or who perform an altar service as altar servants or as Eucharistic ministers. In many communities around the world, these practices are already authorized by local bishops.
However, up to this point, this has occurred without a true and proper institutional mandate, with the exception of what Pope St. Paul VI had established when, in 1972, even abolishing the so-called “minor orders,” he decided to maintain that access to these ministries was granted only to men because both were considered preparatory for eventual admission to the sacred orders.
Now, as a result of the discernment that emerged from the last synods of bishops, Pope Francis wanted to formalize and institutionalize the presence of women at the altar.
Shared baptism
With the Motu proprio spirit of, which amends the first paragraph of canon 230 of the Code of Canon Law, Pope Francis, therefore, states that women may have access to these ministries and that this is recognized through a liturgical act that formally institutes them as such.
Pope Francis specifies that he wanted to welcome the recommendations arising from various synodal assemblies, and writes that “a doctrinal development has been reached in recent years which has shown how certain ministries instituted by the Church have as their it bases the common condition of being baptized and of the royal priesthood received in the Sacrament of Baptism “.
The Pope, therefore, invites us to recognize that what is being discussed are secular ministries “fundamentally different from the ordained ministry that is received through the Sacrament of Holy Orders.”
The new formulation of the canon reads: “Lay people possessing the age and titles established by decree of the conference of bishops may be admitted stably by the liturgical rite prescribed to the ministries of reader and acolyte.” Therefore, the specification of the “laity” that qualifies the laity and present in the Code until the modification of today, is abolished.
Part of the renewal of Vatican II
The Motu proprio is accompanied by a letter addressed to Cardinal Luis Ladaria, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in which Pope Francis explains the theological motivations for his decision.
The Pope writes that “within the spectrum of renewal outlined by the Second Vatican Council, the urgency is increasingly felt today to rediscover the co-responsibility of all the baptized in the Church and the mission of the laity in a specific place. way “.
And, quoting the Final Document of the Synod for the Panamanian Region, the Pope observes that “with regard to the whole Church, in various situations, it is urgent that ministries for men and women be promoted and conferred … It is the Church made up of baptized men and women that we must consolidate, promoting forms of ministry and, above all, an awareness of baptismal dignity ”.
Lay people and evangelization
In his letter to the cardinal, after recalling the words of St. John Paul II that “with regard to ordained ministries, the Church does not have the power to confer priestly ordination on women,” Pope Francis adds that ” with regard to unordered ministries, it is possible, and seems appropriate today, to overcome this reservation. “
The Pope explains that “in order to offer lay people of both sexes the possibility of accessing the ministries of Acolyte and Reader, by virtue of their participation in the priesthood of the baptized, consciousness will grow through a liturgical act (of institution) as well, of the valuable contribution that many lay people, including women, have long made to the life and mission of the Church ”. He concludes that “the decision to confer these positions even on women, which entails stability, public recognition, and a mandate from the bishop, will make everyone’s participation in the work of evangelization more effective.”
Mutual collaboration
This disposition comes after a broad theological reflection on these ministries.
In fact, post-conciliar theology has regained the relevance of the ministers of Reader and Acolyte, not only in relation to the ordained priesthood, but also, and above all, in relation to the priesthood of the baptized.
These ministries are situated within the dynamic of mutual collaboration that exists between these two priesthoods, and their specifically “secular” nature has become increasingly pronounced, in relation to the priesthood exercised by all baptized under the his baptism.
This entire article, including the quotations attributed to Pope Francis, is a practical translation of the Italian original.