Vatican Rejects German Push for Lay Sermons at Mass

The Vatican has reaffirmed that only ordained priests or deacons may deliver homilies during Catholic Mass, rejecting a request from the German Bishops’ Conference to allow laypeople, including women, to preach.

The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said the rule was “not a merely disciplinary norm but derives from the very nature of the liturgy”.

German bishops had argued that many laypeople were as capable of preaching as priests. Bishops in Germany, the US and other European countries have often cited a desire among the faithful to hear sermons from women, who cannot be ordained in the Catholic Church.

The Vatican noted that during Mass, a priest acts “in persona Christi”, or “in the person of Christ”, and that God acts through the priest during worship.

Laypeople may still give sermons at prayer services outside Mass.

(Reuters, mja)