OFFICES AND MINISTRIES OF THE LAITY IN THE CHURCH
Fr. Alex Vadakumthala, Archdiocese of Verapoly
Introduction
An interesting reflection given by Yves Congar would introduce us to this topic:
“…..the Church of God is not built up solely by the actions of the official presbyteral ministry but by a multitude of diverse modes of service, more or less stable or occasional, more or less spontaneous or recognized and when the occasion arises consecrated, while falling short of sacramental ordination. These modes of service do exist. They include, for example, mothers at home catechizing the children of the neighbourhood, the man who coordinates liturgical celebration or reads the sacred texts, the women visiting the sick or prisoners, a parochial secretary, the organizer of a biblical circle, the member of a teamof adult catechists….. Such modes of service proceed from gifts of nature or grace, from those calling which Saint Paul named “charisms” since they are given “for common good” (!Cor. 12: 7, 11). ….. it is worth noticing that the lecisive coupling is not “priesthood/laity”, but rather “ministries/modes of community service” .
We see many simple committed christians, who have the gospel message as their tool prayer as their strength and service as their mission. They too are ministers. Their ministries too are rooted in Christ. As Congar asserts, this service also is an authentic ministry and true participation in the three fold function of Christ. Patricia O’Connel Killen, a married lay woman who helps out in a parish in Cumberland Plateau, southeast of Nashville, in America, shares her experience in ministry which according to her is a ‘mature living out’ of her baptismal promises. She says that “I am engaged in it because I believe that I am called as a baptized Catholic Christian to be a center of God’s love and presence wherever I am. Further, I believe that this central call can be concretized or embodied only through involvement in some ministry to which one is committed” .
Second Vatican Council pointed out this sacramental basis found in christian ministries, as it says:
From the fact of their union with Christ, the head, flows the laymen’s right and duty to be apostles. 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 .
Therefore, it is the baptismal privilege that invites one fundamentally to ministry. John M. Huels avers this, as he says, “it is a person’s baptism that provides the sacramental basis for the exercise of any ministry, a basis far more substantial than that of the mere legal principle of jurisdiction” . This logically implies that there is a gradation in the exercise of the tria munera Christi among Christifideles, each one according to one’s own juridical capacity and sacramental competence. Adapting a division which was proposed by John Huels , we could try for an understanding of the various types of ministerial sharing in the christian community.
1. The Common ministry: To Perfect the Temporal Order
The first level of the ministerial sharing could be called common ministry, the role in the secular field, which is to be exercised “in conformity to the specific lay vocation” . In the Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI recalled that require the presence and witness of Gospel-inspired lay people, as he said:
…. Their own field of evangelizing activity is the vast and complicated world of politics, society and economics, as well as the world of culture, of the sciences and the arts, of international life, of the mass media. It also includes other realities which are open to evangelization, such as human love, the family, the education of children and adolescents, professional work, and suffering. The more Gospel-inspired lay people there are engaged in these realities, clearly involved in them, competent to promote them and conscious that they must exercise to the full their Christian powers which are often repressed and buried, the more these realities will be at the service of the kingdom of God and therefore at the service of salvation in Jesus Christ, without in any way losing or sacrificing their human content but rather pointing to a transcendent dimension which is often disregarded .
This text corroborates the affirmation of the II Vatican Council which specifies secularity as the characteristic “propria et peculiaris” of the vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and in the world . Summarizing the descriptions of the Council on laity’s proper role in the secular sphere, Komonchak points out that the basic concern of the conciliar documents was to vindicate they laity’s right to share in the building up of the Church and in its central saving mission. The Council also wished to affirm the truly Christian and ecclesial character of the laity’s daily secular activity . As James and Evelyn Whitehead point out, due to this involvement. “our sense of ministry broadened beyond the activities in the sanctuary to include efforts to witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ in the family, the work place, the world” . Therefore, the primary ministry of the lay person is “to permeate and perfect the temporal order of things with the spirit of the Gospel” and thus “to give witness to Christ” .
2. Identifiable Ministry:
A. Special Function in the Community
A lay person could be specially assigned by a competent ecclesiastical authority to a distinctive task which is recognized by the community. The Council documents as well as the Code give lots of possibilities for the laity for an active participation in the functions of the community, particularly in the parish community. As for example, religion teacher , assistance in the catechetical formation , marriage participation and other sacramental preparation and so on could be seen as the laity’s ministry in the teaching function in a parish. In the liturgical and para-liturgical celebrations, the role as the lector, acolyte, Eucharistic minister, cantor, commentator etc. , help the assembly to be alive and active around the altar.
The involvement of the laity in the parish council, their help in the administration of parish property, counsel and guidance in financial and legal matters, advisory aid in execution and management etc. make the lay persons to be incorporated in the parish administration and pastoral action. Still there is the youth ministry, organization of different associations and the vast field of social action, including the help given to the so called marginal people, drug addicts, delinquents, alcoholics and so on , which a parish could organize under the lay leadership. As Jerzy Turowicz, a lay man from Poland Mentioned in the 1987 synod of Bishops, “…..all this activity undertaken by a pastoral nucleus made up mainly of lay people, is nothing but integral evange-lization. This is the activity that creates community, that forms apostles and missionaries” .
As we have seen earlier, it is Baptism that prepares and urges one for this community function. But even this special involvement as a “non-office-bearer” springs up from one’s christian task in the world. As Schillebeeckx puts it, “….the layman’s christian relationship with the world colours his whole (active) being as a christian – his life of prayer, his forms of faith, love and hope, his contribution as a non-office-bearer to the primary, religious mission of the church and even his specifically lay collaboration with the hierarchy in their apostolate (either in an organized form or not)” .
3. Ministry with Canonical Determination:
A. Supplementary Task
“The Church is not truly established and does not fully live nor is a perfect sign of Christ unless there is a genuine laity existing and working alongside the hierarchy” : This text from Ad Gentes very well points out the indispensable part that laity play in building up the ecclesial community through their multifaceted contribution. Lay persons can be invited to take up specific tasks in the ecclesiastical community with special canonical or juridical determination or commissioning. Various Council documents mentioned this possibility. This text from Lumen Gentium is worth noticing:
The laity can be called in different ways to more immediate cooperation in the apostolate of the hierarchy. …. They have, moreover, the capacity of being appointed by the hierarchy to some ecclesiastical offices with a view to a spiritual end
The 1983 Code also following the recommendation of the Council, advocates this possibility in can. 228 § 1, which reads:
Qualified lay persons are capable of assuming from their sacred pastors those ecclesiastical offices and functions which they are able to exercise in accord with the prescriptions of law .
Through this canon the Code Affirms that lay persons are capable (sunt habiles) of holding various ecclesiastical offices and functions . The basic motivation behind this canon is not because of the shortage of priests or unavailability of ordinary ministers or special situation of a missionary land or something in that line. Commenting on the above cited canon, Father Chiappetta explains that the motivation is essentially a theological one. The laity, being members of the Church in the same level as clerics and religious, are basically equal in dignity and ecclesial responsibilities. They are also obliged for the edification of the People of God (can. 208) and have the duty to promote and to sustain the apostolate also through their own initiative (can. 216), due to the efficacy of Baptism and Confirmation . This participation by the laity in the ecclesiastical offices or functions is carried out by certain juridical determination or canonical commissioning given by the competent ecclesiastical authority to those who are capable of assuming such powers. This empowerment to cooperate in teaching, sanctifying and governing can thus be a delegated power or a faculty or a species of jurisdiction . And it legitimates a lay person’s suppiementary ministry in the ecclesiastical community.
Thus, from the general statement given in can. 28, we arrive to a practical question: What are the various practical possibilities that the Code offers for a lay person to exercise the tria munera Christi? For a comprehensive understanding, we would divide the lay participation in each function such as sanctifying, teaching and governing. Let us have a look at them, starting from the teaching ministry.
4. LAITY IN THE TEACHING MINISTRY
The first function that Jesus entrusted His disciples was to teach the Gospel to all creation (Mk. 16:15) and to be His witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts. 1:8). The entire Church has this mission to announce and witness the Good News .
Can. 747, § 1 beautifully sums up this “obligation and inherent right of the Church to preach the Gospel to all peoples” . In a general way, the canon indicates that the active subject of the teaching office is the whole church, the entire people of God . It is a responsibility that all the baptized share . But the right to exercise this teaching ministry is not shared equally by all. As regards to the universal Church, the responsibility of proclaiming the Gospel is to the Roman Pontiff and the college of bishops . And, as regards to the particular church or diocese the fullness of the preaching power is and necessarily remains proper to the diocesan bishop . The presbyters and deacons share this ministry of the word from their bishop . In virtue of baptism and confirmation, lay members of the Christian faithful can be called to cooperate with the bishop and presbyters in the exercise of the ministry of the word . Let us see the different realms of cooperation by the laity.
4.1. Preaching at the Ecclesial Assembly
The Code gives the possibility to allow lay people to preach in a church or oratory if in certain circumstances it is necessary or when it would be particularly useful, according to the prescriptions determined by the Episcopal Conferencce , though not the homily, which is reserved to a priest or a deacon . Can. 230, § 3 also mentions that when the needs of the Church require and ministers are not available, the lay persons can supply certain of their functions that is, exercise the ministry of the word (videlicet ministerium verbi exercere) and preside over liturgical prayers.
There ae. Certain points to be noted here. First and foremost, the circumstance must truly urge for such an intervention by the lay person, that is, at the case of a real pastoral need. As for example, when the ordinary minister is physically absent or impeded from presiding over the celebration and some one must supply the basic ministerial services to the community that are allowed by law. Again, the lay person must be permitted or the consent of the competent authority must be at least presumed. This possibility presumes also the training that one has to have, especially in the Scripture, theology and even communication skills and leadership qualities.
Lay catechists in the mission situation (AG. N. 17. Can. 759), pastoral coordinators who are appointed in parishes due to the lack of priests (can. 517, § 2) and so on could cooperate in the preaching of the word. The occasions for the ministry of the word could be the Sunday celebration in the absence of a priest , celebration of the Word of God on Sundays or Feast days , Baptism in danger of death or in mission territories , communion to the sick, exposition and deposition of the Eucharist , viaticum for the dying , the funeral service without Mass , Liturgy of the hours , administration of the sacramentals . In all these cases the law permits a lay person to preach the Word of God in the context of an ecclesial community.
Thus, from the general statement given in can. 28, we arrive to a practical question: What are the various practical possibilities that the Code offers for a lay person to exercise the tria munera Christi? For a comprehensive understanding, we would divide the lay participation in each function such as sanctifying, teaching and governing. Let us have a look at them, starting from the teaching ministry.
4. LAITY IN THE TEACHING MINISTRY
The first function that Jesus entrusted His disciples was to teach the Gospel to all creation (Mk. 16:15) and to be His witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts. 1:8). The entire Church has this mission to announce and witness the Good News .
Can. 747, § 1 beautifully sums up this “obligation and inherent right of the Church to preach the Gospel to all peoples” . In a general way, the canon indicates that the active subject of the teaching office is the whole church, the entire people of God . It is a responsibility that all the baptized share . But the right to exercise this teaching ministry is not shared equally by all. As regards to the universal Church, the responsibility of proclaiming the Gospel is to the Roman Pontiff and the college of bishops . And, as regards to the particular church or diocese the fullness of the preaching power is and necessarily remains proper to the diocesan bishop . The presbyters and deacons share this ministry of the word from their bishop . In virtue of baptism and confirmation, lay members of the Christian faithful can be called to cooperate with the bishop and presbyters in the exercise of the ministry of the word . Let us see the different realms of cooperation by the laity.
4.1. Preaching at the Ecclesial Assembly
The Code gives the possibility to allow lay people to preach in a church or oratory if in certain circumstances it is necessary or when it would be particularly useful, according to the prescriptions determined by the Episcopal Conferencce , though not the homily, which is reserved to a priest or a deacon . Can. 230, § 3 also mentions that when the needs of the Church require and ministers are not available, the lay persons can supply certain of their functions that is, exercise the ministry of the word (videlicet ministerium verbi exercere) and preside over liturgical prayers.
There ae. Certain points to be noted here. First and foremost, the circumstance must truly urge for such an intervention by the lay person, that is, at the case of a real pastoral need. As for example, when the ordinary minister is physically absent or impeded from presiding over the celebration and some one must supply the basic ministerial services to the community that are allowed by law. Again, the lay person must be permitted or the consent of the competent authority must be at least presumed. This possibility presumes also the training that one has to have, especially in the Scripture, theology and even communication skills and leadership qualities.
Lay catechists in the mission situation (AG. N. 17. Can. 759), pastoral coordinators who are appointed in parishes due to the lack of priests (can. 517, § 2) and so on could cooperate in the preaching of the word. The occasions for the ministry of the word could be the Sunday celebration in the absence of a priest , celebration of the Word of God on Sundays or Feast days , Baptism in danger of death or in mission territories , communion to the sick, exposition and deposition of the Eucharist , viaticum for the dying , the funeral service without Mass , Liturgy of the hours , administration of the sacramentals . In all these cases the law permits a lay person to preach the Word of God in the context of an ecclesial community.
4.2. Lay Ministries of Teaching
The post-council Church opened up the installation of ministries of lector and acolyte on lay persons, especially to lay men on a stable basis . But lay ministries are not limited to the lector or acolyte alone. Ministeriea quaedam itself spoke about instituting other ministries according to the need of the particular Church. This would remind us the enormous pastoral service that the catechists render in various mission territories and their admirable contribution through the teaching of faith in virtue of their sacramental configuration to Christ . Though not directly pertaining to the parish context, the lay theologians who teach theological disciplines in ecclesiastical institutes or seminaries with the mandate from competent ecclesiastical authority could be also noted here as a part of their participation in the teaching ministry . Thus the Code offers different possibilities for the laity to participate in the teaching function of the Church. Now let us have a look at their cooperation in the sanctifying function.
5. LAITY IN THE SANCTIFYING MINISTRY
“The Church fulfills its office of sanctifying in a special way in the sacred liturgy, which is indeed the exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ” . It is the whole church that celebrates the liturgy, but ‘carried out by lawfully deputed persons and through acts approved by the authority of the Church’. Can. 835 clearly mentions various functions connected with munus sanctificandi which is shared hierarchically in the Church, particularly by bishops (§ 1), priests (§ 2). Deacons (§ 3), and the christian faithful (§ 4). In virtue of the common priesthood, the faithful participate in the liturgical celebration and share in the office of sanctification. But more than this, the Code invites the lay persons to share in the sanctifying ministry more in the hierarchical level. Particularly in the context of a parish. Let us have a brief look at them.
5.1. Lay Ministries in Eucharistic Assembly
We saw just above that acolyte and lector are the two main lay ministries in the Church, especially in the latin rite. Acolyte, theologically represents and involves the laity in the cultic life of the Church and that of the Lector involves the laity in the ministry of the Word . Can. 230 speaks about three categories of acolytes and lectors. First, those men whose age and qualifications meet the requirements prescribed by decree of the Episcopal Conference and, who are installed liturgically and officially in the ministry (§ 1). Second those lay persons, both women and men, who are temporarily assigned or delegated who exercise daily ministry without being formally installed in it (§ 2). Third, those who substitute others when ordinary acolytes and lectors are unable to do so (§ 3).
The 1983 Code, in can. 910, § 2, qualifies an acolyte or another lay person deputed, as the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. It is interesting to note the development. The 1917 Code termed the ordained priest as the ordinary minister of Holy Communion and the deacon as the extraordinary minister . Later, on April 30, 1969, Sacred Congregation for Sacraments permitted the local ordinaries to ask the Apostolic See for a three-year faculty of appointing qualified religious men and women and qualified lay men to distribute Holy Communion . Then, in 1972, Pope Paul VI abolished the minor orders and created the new ministry of acolyte who has also the duty to distribute Holy Communion whenever ordinary ministers are not available or the number of communicants are sizable larger for the ordinary minister . The following year on January 29, the Sacred Congregation for Discipline of the Sacraments created extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion without the need of applying for particular indults by local authorities . When it comes to the 1083 Code, the local ordinaries or their delegates can appoint lay persons as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion either for temporary basis or in permanent manner (can. 230; § 3). In the Oriental Code, regarding the norms for the distribution of Holy Communion by lay persons depend on the synod bishops or the council of hierarchs .
Obviously their primary function is more in the eucharistic assembly, especially to distribute communion. The acolyte or other extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion or any other person delegated by the local ordinary could be the minister for exposition of Eucharist for public adoration and its reposition, but without benediction , in particular circumstances . They can also administer Viaticum in case of great need, like in danger of death and when ordinary minister is not available. It has to be notified to him later . Other than a priest or deacon, a specially trained acolyte could be the ideal persons to help a blind priest or one with infirmity in celebrating the Eucharistic Sacrifice .
5.2. Extraordinary Minister of Baptism
The ordinary minister for baptism is an ordained minister . But if the ordinary minister is absent or impeded, the local ordinary can delegate a catechist or another person to confer the baptism .The preference for a catechist, who is even otherwise the leader of the community in the absence of an ordained minister, is to be noted. Yet, the need of an extraordinary minister arises only in emergency situations. The 1983 Code suppresses the preference proposed by 1917 Code and the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law . Thus, the extraordinary minister of Baptism could be lay persons of either sex, and even the parents to their children in danger of death.
5.3. Officiant at Marriage Celebration
The possibility for lay persons to be officiant at marriage celebration is another sphere where the common priesthood which they share from baptism is manifested and exercised . This question was discussed in the ante-preparatory stage of the II Vatican Council due to the request by the bishops of mission territories where they encounter the pastoral problems due to the shortage of priests, particularly in South America . This discussion was centered mainly on three canons of 1917 code, such as can. 1094 which speaks about officiant at marriage celebration. Can 1095 which teaches on delegation, and can. 1098 which foresees the extraordinary form of marriage where the officiant is absent In the conciliar stage though the desire for the inclusion of lay delegation was expressed , it did not appear in the final schema.
After the Council, in 1967, Pope Paul VI, through the motu proprio Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem, expressed the possibility for deacons to assist marriages . Later in 1974, as a reason of the scarcity of priests and deacons in many areas, as for example in Brazil, the Holy See permitted to delegate lay persons to be officiant at marriage celebration . Further, in the 1983 Code this possibility is reaffirmed .
One of the conditions that can. 1112, § 2 puts forward is that the Conference of bishops must vote favorably to allow individual bishops to request the Holy See for the power to delegate a lay person to assist marriage within hi territory. The main reason for such a request is due to the lack of ordinary ministers. With the permission from the Holy See, the local bishop validly delegates a lay person, specially chosen and trained for this. The delegation can be either specific or general.
This specifically chosen and delegated persons have an important role to play in the community, especially in connection with the sacrament of matrimony. It is the obligation of the officiants to conduct the pre-marital enquiry, marriage preparation, planning and conducting of the special wedding liturgy and so on. The lay officiants could preside over the liturgy and preach the Word of God. They ask the consent of the parties in the name of the Church. Since they lack the sacred orders, they can neither give the nuptial blessing nor bless the wedding chain or rings. They cannot dispense from any matrimonial impediments too. But they act as the official witness or officiant at a marriage celebration. Thus, the possibilities that the Code offers for lay participation in the sanctifying ministry are many and diverse. In the next section we will see their cooperation in the governing function of the Church.
6. LAITY IN THE GOVERNING FUNCTION
James Whitehead and Evelyn Whitehead in their book “The Emerging Laity” analize power as a social process. Quoting Elizabeth Janeway, they explain that “power is fundamentally a relationship between people” . The power of jurisdiction, a term much used in the juridical language, both in the civil law and canon law, has also a social connotation . Going through the traditional commentaries, James Cuneo explains jurisdiction as “a public power, the capacity to rule or direct members of the society with legislative, executive, juridical functions” .
Though the Second Vartican Council, in fact, did not even use the term, “power of jurisdiction” , it very much a reality in the Church law. It is a true “power” which is needed by law for a person to perform certain acts.
Going in line with the thinking of the Council, which spoke quite minimum about jurisdiction, the Code used the term “potesta regiminis” for “potestas iurisdictionis” . We saw in the first part of this section that in the Church often the power of jurisdiction is seen as united with the power of Orders. The 1917 Code forbade completely the exercise of the power of jurisdiction to non-ordained persons . The issue was seriously discussed during the preparatory period of the Code . The 1983 Code restricts in the Strict sense the exercise of the power of governance by the non-ordained Canon 129, § I explains that those who have receive sacred orders are capable of the power of governance. The Oriental Code also follows the same principle in can. 979. § 1. In § 2 in both these canons of either canonical legislations, the mention is on the possibility to cooperate in this power. Thus, can. 129, § 1 and 979, § 1 make a distinction between those who share in the tria munera Christi as ordained ministers and those in virtue of the Sacraments of Baptism.
The 1983 Code sees a sublime compromise in c. 129, § 2 (CCEO, can 979, § 2) which speaks that the lay members of the Christian faithful can ‘cooperate in the exercise of the power of governance’ (in exercitio eiusdem potestatis. …..cooperari possunt) But in the Code the word “cooperari” carries different meanings in different canons . It can be an expression of mutual assistance or a subordinate attitude . It can be an expression of working together in the religious institutes as it is given in can. 652 , whereas, can.1041. § 4 speaks of criminal cooperation in voluntary homicide or abortion that results in an irregularity for orders. It can be collaborated effort of parents and teachers (can. 796, § 2). Can. 208 expresses the fundamental need of all the baptized who are called by the fact of their baptism to cooperate in the work of building up the Body of Christ.
Therefore, a special look at cooperation in the power of governance is needed. We will see three various possibilities explained by different canonists.
James Provost explains this in a traditional ways . According to him the Code deliberately equates “power of governance” with “jurisdiction” in can. 219, § 1. The power of governance can be ordinary (connected with an office), to be exercised in one’s own name (proper) or in the name of another (vicarious), or it can be delegated (granted to a person, but not by means of an office) (can. 131). An ordinary power is presumed to have all the obligations and rights proper to that office. Delegated power does not have such a presumption with it; the person who has been delegated must prove the delegation (can. 131, § 3) and is limited to the mandate for the validity of what is done in virtue of delegation (can. 133). Therefore, “Cooperation in the power of governance can be the cooperation of a vicar with the proper ordinary, or that of a delegation with any kind of ordinary” .
Mons. Julian Herranz, the present secretary for the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative texts, points out that in the 1983 Code, ecclesiastical office does not necessarily imply exercising the power of governance, as was the case of office (strictu sensu) in the previous Code (cf. CIC 1917, can. 145, § 1). This permits, argues Herranz, the application of such a notion to tasks or munera of various natures (consultative, judicial, administrative, etc.) with or without cooperation in the exercise of the potestas regiminis ecclesiastici seu iurisdictionis. The question here, he clarifies, is not concerned with “clerical” or hierarchical offices but rather with those concrete offices which can generally be entitled “ecclesiastical”, that is, though they are not reserved to clerics, they are nonetheless concerned with the internal and social organization of the Church as communitas christifidelium
Prof. Giuseppe Dalla Torre explains the lay cooperation from a slightly different angle. He argues that if not all non-strictly clerical ecclesiastical offices involve the exercise of potestas regiminis, it is certain that in the 1983 Code the possibility is assumed in some cases of conferring on the laity ecclesiastical offices which involve such potestas, whether on the level of administration or on the level of jurisdiction in the strict sense . He sees a solution for the obvious contradiction of the provision of canons 274 § 1 and 129 § 2 by suggesting a double type jurisdiction: one sacramental, which could be exclusively conferred on those in sacred orders: and another non-sacramental, called ecclesial, which could be conferred also on the non-ordained or lay persons .
Though, can. 129 § 2 calla for different interpretations , it proposes the possibility for the cooperation of the laity in various realms of governance in the Church. Generally, the power of governance is distinguished into legislative, executive and judicial . When we examine each of three form of power, we have a better understanding on how a lay person can cooperate in the power of governance.
6.1. Legislative Powers
Legislative power cannot be delegated by a legislator below the highest authority unless the law specifically provides for this (can. 135, § 2; CCEO, can. 985, § 2). In a legislative body , the legislative authority is exercised by two types of “votes”: consultative and deliberative. “Lay persons called to these legislative bodies “cooperate” in the exercise of power of governance, at least by the exercise of consultative vote. Those with deliberative vote remain the principal agents. Having a consultative vote, however, is not mean role, for the process of decision making relies heavily on the consultative process for effectiveness” . Can. 228, § 2 specially mentions as one of the rights and obligations of a lay person to be in these bodies.
6.2. The Judicial Powers
The Code welcomes the involvement of lay persons in the judicial field in various capacities such as notaries , promoter of justice, defender of the bond , auditor , assessor , and so on. But, judicial authority, as can. 135, § 3 explains, is ‘possessed by judges or judicial colleges, is to be exercised in the manner prescribed by law and cannot be delegated except to carry out acts which are preparatory to a decree or a decision’. The new legislation points out the possibility for lay persons to be appointed as judges . They in fact cooperate in the exercise of judicial power not through delegation, but in virtue of an office for whose exercise the power of governance is required .
6.3. The Executive Powers
The provisions in the canonical legislation for the participation of the lay persons in the executive level creates a greater presence and visibility of the laity in the ecclesial life . The appointment of lay Christian faithful as the chancellor , notary; financial administrator , membership in diocesan or parochial financial committees or pastoral councils , direction of catholic schools, universities, catholic hospitals, other charitable institutions, or function of authority in lay associations (can. 301) which have public juridic personality, and so on, are examples for this possible participation. The implementation of can. 517, § 2, implies such a cooperation in the executive power which we will see in detail in the next chapter.
Thus, we comprehend that lay persons are capable of exercising the power of governance both theoretically and in practice. Theoretically they are capable of exercising this power because it is distinct from the power of Orders. In practice, lay persons have exercised jurisdiction in the past by customs, they do so today by law. But, the manner of lay cooperation in these ecclesiastical office must be such as to avoid any form of “clericalization” of the lay Christian faithful.