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Canon 230 and the Regulation of Lay Liturgical Ministries

Introduction

Since Vatican II, ecclesiology has assumed a central position in Catholic theology in

which the question of the status of the laity has also come into focus. Indeed, in the wake of

the Council lay activities have flourished, and efforts have been made to apply and extend the

Council’s teachings on the role of the laity in the life and mission of the Church. The role of

the laity in the mission of the Church is based on their communion with and incorporation

into Christ through baptism, and henceforth their sharing in the three-fold office of Christ,

namely, prophetic, priestly and kingly functions. Can 230 1 deals with the role of the laity in

the sanctifying office.

A brief survey of the historical development of the notion of the laity in the Church,

including a review of Vatican II’s theology of the laity, would help in understanding the role

of lay people as set forth in can 230. This paper will first provide a historical overview of the

status of lay people prior to Vatican II. Secondly, it will look at the main conciliar teachings

on the laity and lay ministry. It will conclude with analysis of the role of the laity in the

sanctifying office of the Church in the light of can 230.

The Status of the Laity in the Church

The laity before Vatican Council II

The terms “laity” according to Ernst Nierman, is derived from the Greek word laikos, which

is used to describe the common, ordinary people in contrast to the officials or the clergy. 2 By

the second century, the Church emerged with clearly defined and organized hierarchical

1
Codex Iuris Canonici, auctoritate Ioannis Pauli PP. II promulgatus, 25 Ianuarii 1983, in AAS, 75
(1983-II), pp.1-317, Canon 433 §1; Code of Canon Law, Latin-English ed., translation prepared under the
auspices of the Canon Law Society of America, Canon Law Society of America, Washington DC 1983. (All
references to canons of the 1983 Code will be styled can. for canon and cann. for canons, followed by the canon
number[s]).
2
Ernst Niermann, “Laity,” in Encyclopedia of Theology. The Concise Sacramentum Mundi, ed. Karl
Rahner, Burns and Oates, London 1975, pp. 814-5.
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structure and the laity began to be regarded as inferior to the clergy. 3 From the fourth century

when Church structures were similar to political ones, “the subordination of laity became a

firm part of Church life.”8 With the passing of the period of persecutions, early Christians

continued to witness to their faith, no longer as martyrs but as hermits, whose monastic

lifestyle became “the model of holiness.”9 The laity, already considered secondary to the

hierarchy, was now depicted as “having chosen the less perfect way”10 than the monks, and

hence was relegated to the third place, after the clergy and the religious.11 The inferiority and

passivity of the laity continued in subsequent centuries, and eventually the Council of Trent

(1545-1563) “legitimized the separation between clergy and people.”14 The laity’s loss of

status and dignity

lasted until the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).15

the Laity from the 1917 CIC to Vatican

in the period leading to the 1917 CIC, the ecclesiology regarding the members of the Church

was based on the view that the Church consisted of two categories of members, namely, the

active and the passive, the teachers and those to be taught, or the pastors and the flock,

whereby the clergy were the teachers, the pastors and active members of the Church, and the

laity were the flock and the passive members of the Church. Hence this notion of the

members of the Church was codified in CIC/1917, where the distinction was explicitly made

between the clergy and the laity in terms of the constitution of the Church as in Can 107: “By

divine institution there are in the Church clerics distinct from the laity, although not all clerics

are of divine institution,”4 in terms of governance and divine worship as in can 948: “By

reason of Christ’s institution, the sacrament of Orders separates clerics form the laity for the

governance of the faithful and for the ministry of divine worship.” In a way the core members
3
Leonard Doohan, “Theology of the Laity,” in The Modern Catholic Encyclopedia, 11 ed. Michael Glazier and
Monika K. Hellwig (Newtown, Australia: E. J. Dwyer, 1994), 493; idem, “Theology of the Laity,” in The New
Dictionary of Sacramental Worship, ed. Peter E. Fink (Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1990), 636.
4
Cic 1917
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of the Church were the clerics, i.e., the Pope, Bishops, priests, as well as the religious, with

the laity having no much role to play.

In the period leading to Vatican II, (enlightenment) the Church began to take the laity

quite seriously only when humanity and the world itself discovered the value of the secular

world. She became aware that she can reach out to the world with the message of the Gospels

in a unique and meaningful way through the laity. This awareness inspired Pius XI to begin

Catholic Action, "the participation of the laity in the apostolate of the hierarchy" after World

War I.45 It is precisely this understanding of the positive aspect of the world that has helped

to restore the laity to their proper place as part of the Church's mystery.46

The laity and the Lay Ministries in Vatican II

The Vatican Council II formally initiated a change in the Church’s understanding of

the vocation and the mission of lay people. In Lumen Gentium (LG 30) the Council

categorically emphasized the equality of all members of the Church by declaring that

“everything that has been said of the people of God is addressed equally to laity, religious

and clergy.”5 This fundamental equality which precedes any differentiation on the basis of

diversity of ministries (LG 32), is based on the sacraments of baptism and confirmation, 6 and

a common participation in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly mission of Jesus Christ and the

Church (AA 2). The Council provides further clarification. First, the mission of Christ is

given to the whole people of God (LG 33). Apostolicam Actuositatem states clearly that lay

people have a “special and indispensable” role in the Church and their mission is exclusive to

them (AA 2). Second, Lumen Gentium emphasizes the laity’s dignity qua baptized,23

affirming that every lay person “is at once the witness and the living instrument of the

5
SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 21
November 1964, n. 30, in A. FLANNERY (gen. ed.), Vatican Council II. The Conciliar and Post Conciliar
Documents, Vol. I, St Pauls, Mumbai 2004, pp. 353.
6
SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity Apostolicam Actuositatem,
18 November 1965, n. 3, in A. FLANNERY (gen. ed.), Vatican Council II. The Conciliar and Post Conciliar
Documents, Vol. I, St Pauls, Mumbai 2004, pp. 678.
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mission of the Church itself,” because “inserted as they are in the Mystical Body of Christ by

baptism and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit in confirmation, it is by the Lord

himself that they are assigned to the apostolate.”24 The laity’s mission has two focuses:

involvement in the world and its transformation,25 and involvement in the Church and its

growth.26 The Council moves on to teach that temporal realities are good in themselves, and

underscored the importance of family,27 work, civic, and social life.28 It relates the

participation of lay people in the threefold mission of Christ primarily to their place in the

world, by affirming that the “secular character is proper and peculiar to the laity,” and laity’s

unique way of sharing in the mission of the Church is to “seek the kingdom of God by

engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God’s will.”29 The relationship

between the laity and the hierarchy and religious was also clarified by Vatican II.30

According to Lumen Gentium, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or

hierarchical priesthood “differ essentially and not only in degree”, but “each in its proper way

shares in the one priesthood of Christ.”31 However, the Council does not provide “a positive

theological definition of the laity, but rather a description of and an outline of their

functions.”32. Lumen Gentium, on the other hand, divides the church into three groups: lay,

cleric, and religious.37 In the documents of Vatican II, the terms “minister” and “ministry”

occur several times but only few apply to the activity of laity.38 The first usage occurs in

Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC 29, 112, 122), where lay people were accepted as liturgical

ministers and their ministry relates to the sanctifying office.40 In the Degree on the Pastoral

Office of Bishops, Christus Dominus (no. 33), ministry is used to refer to the laity’s

participation in the diocesan curia sharing the munus regendi of the bishop. According to

Gravissimum Educationis (GE 7), lay people who teach Catholic children attending non-

Catholic schools are said to exercise a true ministry by continuing the teaching office of the

hierarchy. In contrast to the preceding documents, Apostolicam Actuositatem and Ad Gentes

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apply the term lay ministry to both activity within the Church—in fulfilment of the

hierarchical offices, and work carried out in the world—in fulfilment of the tasks of the

people of God. Gaudium et Spes considers the everyday activity of human life as ministry

(GS 38).

The Laity Post-Vatican II

The Role of the Laity in Sanctifying Office According to Can 230

The 1983 Code of Canon Law, which was developed based on the theological insights

of Vatican II,7 gives a broader concept of lay people, defining them as the Christian faithful

who are not in holy orders (can 207 §1). According to CIC/1983, the Christian faithful are

those people incorporated into Christ by baptism and constituted the People of God, and who

are therefore share in the prophetic, priestly, and royal functions of Christ (can 204 §). Thus,

canonically speaking, the term “Christian faithful” includes not only the laity but also the

clerics (can 207), who never cease to be Christ’s faithful.

As sharers in the mission of Christ, all Christian faithful have the duty and right to

proclaim the message of salvation to all generations (can 210), and to assume their

fundamental duty and role in the missionary work of the Church (c. 781). It is therefore in the

light of this ecclesiological and canonical foundation that can 230 deals with the role of the

laity in the sanctifying office of the Church, which they exercise by virtue of their priestly

nature and vocation to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God (1 Pet 2. 4-5, 9),8 and virtue

of their sharing in the priestly office of Christ through baptism.

Subjects of Sanctifying Office

7
JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Constitution Sacre Disciplinae Leges, 25 January 1893, par 17, in Code of
Canon Law. Latin-English Edition, New English translation prepared under the auspices of the Canon Law
Society of America, Canon Law Society of America, Washington DC 1983, p. xxx.
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African Bible
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By virtue of their baptism, all the Christian faithful share in the priestly office of

Christ in their own way, and are called, each according to one’s particular condition, to

exercise the mission of the Church (can 204 §1). However, the exercise of the priestly or

sanctifying office in the Church is regulated ipso iure in accordance with the conditions and

roles of each of the Christian faithful. For this reason, Can. 835 prescribes categories of

exercising the sanctifying office. In the first place are the bishops, who are the principal

dispensers of God’s mysteries, and the directors, promoters, and guardians of the entire

liturgical life in the church. In the second place are the priests who are Christ’s ministers

under the authority of the bishop, and are consecrated to celebrate the liturgy and to sanctify

the people. Thirdly are the deacons who also have a role in the liturgical celebration

prescribed by the law. In the last place are the laity who also play a role in the sanctifying

function by active participation in their own way in liturgical celebrations. ted to them

The Role of the Laity in Liturgical Celebrations

The exercise of the sanctifying function in the Church is fulfilled in a special way through

liturgy which is an exercise of Christ’s priestly function (can 834 §1). Liturgy by its nature

demands “full, conscious, and active participation of all the faithful in the liturgical

celebrations”9 and the Christian faithful have the right and obligation to it. 835 §4

As Participants

As Ministers

Commissioned Ministries

Installed Ministries

9
SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Constitution on Sacred Liturgy Sacrosantum Concilium, 04
December 1963, no. 14, in A. FLANNERY (gen. ed.), Vatican Council II. The Conciliar and Post Conciliar
Documents, Vol. I, St Pauls, Mumbai 2004, pp. 27.
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Conclusion

Bibliography