Hi I am at a top Catholic University in the US, and my theology professor said that lay people are not allowed to preach and that this is only reserved to the ordained ministry, is he correct?
I dont want to preach within the liturgy/Mass, but in the style of Billy Graham, I would like to preach in large arenas to play my part in bring people back to Christ and the Church he founded.
Can anyone enlighten me on whether lay people are allowed to preach?
The reservation of the homily at the Eucharistic liturgy has been addressed, Eric. However, you will find the complementary legislation on canon 766 directly useful for your question, and I suggest you follow this link:
usccb.org/norms/766.htm
Both Redemptionis sacramentum and the complementary legislation take cognizance of an authentic interpretation of canon 767 and it is referenced in the USCCB legislation.
“Preaching” is a quite suitable word to describe what the qualified and approved laity may do apart from the Eucharistic liturgy. In fact, preaching the homily is one of the forms of preaching, and the two terms, “preaching” and “homily”, are not identical according to canon 767 §1.
In the general sense, the laity do “preach” in many ways. But in these canons, the sense is the more restricted one. Hence, they do not convey a right to preach by the laity. Instead, they make it possible under the restricted conditions (apart from Eucharistic liturgy) and with permission of competent authority who determines qualifications of a person. Canon 765 will also add another restriction related to preaching to religious.
A lay member of the Christian faithful who is authorized to conduct Communion services outside of Mass may or may not be also authorized to preach at them. The same is true if he or she is authorized to lead some prayer service. In either case, that would depend on the diocesan bishop, although a case could likely be made that the bishop should give such permission if the person has been found appropriate to those tasks. Sometimes they are not so given, and the lay person may only read from a sermon or the like from someone else. Details and practices vary.
Permission to preach a la Billy Graham would seem to me to require permission of a local ordinary in which this occurs, especially if outside of one’s own diocese. See canon 772 :
§1. The norms issued by the diocesan bishop concerning the exercise of preaching are to be observed by all. §2. The prescriptions of the conference of bishops are to be observed in giving radio or television talks on Christian doctrine.
