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EDITORIAL Four steps needed to affirm the new ministers
One slogan of the lay ministry movement is no turning
back, lifted from a 1995 speech on the subject by New Ulm, Minn., Bishop
Raymond Lucker. It strikes a bold, optimistic tone, suggesting that the trend
towards lay collaboration in ministry in the American Catholic church is an
irresistible impulse.
As rallying cries go, its a good one. It is also -- and it
behooves everyone to be clear on this -- untrue.
The harsh truth is that the clock can be turned back. Witness the
recent instruction from the Vatican on lay ministry, which resurrected the
worst kind of patronizing clericalism in declaring that the involvement of
laity in ministry is an ad-hoc response to priest shortages, and that the
unique status of the priest must be protected above all.
Granted, the buzz now is that the instruction will have little
effect in America because the U.S. bishops will massage it sufficiently to
leave things pretty much as they are. Lets hope so, but that
interpretation relies heavily on the good will of the bishops, to whom
principled defiance of Rome does not always come naturally. The instruction has
already done damage to the morale of professional lay ministers, and it could
become an ecclesial wrecking ball unless measures are taken to protect the
progress made in this area and to ensure its future growth.
In that context, the three-year project of the bishops
subcommittee on lay ministry could not be more timely. So far, the subcommittee
has generated tremendous good will by opening itself to dialogue and involving
lay ministers themselves in drafting early versions of documents. Those are
positive steps and they merit commendation. But its by no means
preordained that the effort will turn out well. The chief danger is that the
bishops could end up suffocating lay ministry by fixating on issues of
definition and control.
If, however, the bishops primary impulse is one of support,
they can do some real good. If the notion is that lay ministry is a positive
sign of the times that deserves affirmation -- but not micromanagement -- the
work of this subcommittee could be among the bishops most important
accomplishments.
In that light, there are four critical points the
subcommittees final report should address:
- Ritual: The bishops should create a public commissioning
liturgy for lay ministers that would express that lay ministry is an official,
recognized vocation with the full support of the church. The danger is that
such a ritual could become a filter through which the bishops screen who they
do and dont want to become lay ministers. So the function of this liturgy
should be to ratify the wishes of communities, not to replace them with
episcopal diktat.
- Compensation: Issues of salary and benefits should be
addressed so that the church does right by the people who serve it. The bishops
would take a tremendous step forward if they were to examine the wage and
benefit packages earned by youth ministers, pastoral associates and other types
of ministers in other faith traditions, or even secular professionals who do
similar work, and then establish as a principle that Catholic lay ministers
should get something close to fair market value for their labor. The bishops
should also take measures to protect peoples job security and benefits.
While pastoral teams must have some flexibility in hiring and firing, lay
ministers should be assured that a change of pastor doesnt mean
theyre out in the cold.
- Education: One of the most pernicious vestiges of clericalism
on the ministry scene today is that if youre a priest-in-training,
someone will help foot the bill for your education, but if you aspire to be a
lay minister, youre on your own. Its an inequity that not only has
practical consequences -- ensuring a shortage of adequately prepared candidates
for jobs -- but its also unjust on its face. The bishops should establish
scholarship and loan programs at the diocesan level that provide serious
financial support to those who are preparing for careers in lay ministry.
- Collaboration: The bishops should say, loudly and clearly,
that lay ministers are professionals and colleagues whose collaboration in the
ministerial life of the church is a fully appropriate realization of Vatican
IIs people of God ecclesiology. Its time to admit, once and for
all, that Father doesnt always know best -- and never did.
These points are reasonable ways to institutionalize the lay
revolution in ministry underway in American Catholicism. Looking at the energy
and hope emanating from places such as the Phoenix dioceses Kino
Institute (described by Tom Robertss articles), its clear this
revolution is infusing the church with new life. If that life is to take root,
these are logical next steps.
But theyre not inevitable. Indeed, given the way the Roman
wind is blowing, implementing them will require a fair bit of courage.
Lets hope theres no turning back.
National Catholic Reporter, January, 9,
1998
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