Or they do preach and do works of mercy in the world as simple friars, as Franciscan and Dominican brothers do.Brother’s usually live in the Community and operate like Sisters do. The make vows/promises of poverty, chastity and obedience, and usually are attached to a school or hospital that was founded by their order.
No, not at Mass, not unless they are deacons. Even that tends to be, say, a Spanish-language homily when the priest is not fluent himself. I meant more like at retreats and youth rallies and so on, yes. (Or on the internet, I suppose, but I haven’t actually seen that.)The brothers I am familiar with did not preach at Mass. They gave retreats, worked at on of our Catholic high schools and one of our Catholic hospitals. Many were teachers or former military medics who became nurses/patient care techs.
He may be under the control of the superior of his order rather than the Bishop, and the superior may permit the lay brother to act in this way. As someone else said, it’s a corporal work of mercy. I’m also not seeing how doing a reading and leading a reflection is “presiding at a non-Catholic religious service.” It sounds like a non-denominational meditation on Scripture to me. I could conceivably get 5 Christians of various denominations from my office together and do the same thing in the break room once a week and probably not need anyone’s permission to do it.I think Catholic ministers (or any Catholic who could be interpreted as such by his actions) need the permission of the bishop to preside at non-Catholic religious services of any kind.
I didn’t mean he was doing anything wrong. I meant that this would be the concern that would need to be addressed when he got permission, that is all. Kind of a “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” kind of thing (and certainly Catholic priests and bishops could preside at ecumenical gatherings even though they would do so in a somewhat different way than they would at a gathering that is meant specifically as a Catholic service with non-Catholic visitors.)He may be under the control of the superior of his order rather than the Bishop, and the superior may permit the lay brother to act in this way. As someone else said, it’s a corporal work of mercy. I’m also not seeing how doing a reading and leading a reflection is “presiding at a non-Catholic religious service.” It sounds like a non-denominational meditation on Scripture to me. I could conceivably get 5 Christians of various denominations from my office together and do the same thing in the break room once a week and probably not need anyone’s permission to do it.
Exactly. If he is a member of an order of Pontifical Right he does not need permission of the bishop at all. It will come instead from the superior of his community or the Superior-General of the order. It may of course be a courtesy to inform the bishop that this is happening, but not within the bishop’s authority. It could even be that the bishop himself, being short-handed, may have asked the order if they were able to provide someone to do this, in the same manner a bishop might ask for a priest from the order to staff a parish or fill in for a sick priest. But it would be up to the superior to decide if he can accommodate the request based on his own needs.He may be under the control of the superior of his order rather than the Bishop, and the superior may permit the lay brother to act in this way. As someone else said, it’s a corporal work of mercy. I’m also not seeing how doing a reading and leading a reflection is “presiding at a non-Catholic religious service.” It sounds like a non-denominational meditation on Scripture to me. I could conceivably get 5 Christians of various denominations from my office together and do the same thing in the break room once a week and probably not need anyone’s permission to do it.
Which is what I said in post #7.Exactly. If he is a member of an order of Pontifical Right he does not need permission of the bishop at all. It will come instead from the superior of his community or the Superior-General of the order.
It is always a courtesy to inform the Bishop of the Diocese a Community is in. Where I am , if a Priest of an Order would like to perform public Masses within the Diocese, they then are required to meet with the Bishop with all appropriate paperwork, etc. The Bishop is always welcome of additional Priests.If he is in a Community, he would seek permission of the Superior of the Community rather then the Bishop.