Pastoral Administrators/Associates & Their Roles

[Macd144]

Hello,

As a Catholic, I have become much more aware of the proper form for Mass and I wanted to ask a question about liturgy. A few Sunday’s ago, the Pastor of the Church read the Gospel and then one of our Deacons gave the homily. About one or two minutes into the homily, the Deacon announced that the Pastoral Adminstrator would continue with her ‘reflection’. I was puzzled by this considering that we had a Pastor present, as well as an ordained Deacon, yet the Pastoral Administrator was allowed to give a ‘reflection’. I understand that my Church will say that the reflection was not the homily, but call it what you want…it’s the homily. I further read in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal that lay persons cannot give the homily. By calling it a reflection, it appears as though the Church is using this as a work around. This does not make sense to me. There are ordained Priests and Deacons readily available at Mass, yet a lay person is ‘reflecting’. I’ve been to other Churches in my diocese (Rochester, NY) and have seen Pastoral Adminstrators not only giving the entire homily, but wearing a vestment as well. This seems like an even larger abuse. GIRM states that lay persons should not wear vestments in an effor to avoid confusion. This has me really down and out and I just don’t know if i am to just ignore this or should I be defending the faith more. I have not addressed my concerns with anyone at Church because i feel that i will be seen as an instigator but at the same time i feel i need to stand up for the principles behind GIRM and for the Church as a whole.

Thanks,

Mac

 

[japhy]

About one or two minutes into the homily, the Deacon announced that the Pastoral Adminstrator would continue with her ‘reflection’. I was puzzled by this considering that we had a Pastor present, as well as an ordained Deacon, yet the Pastoral Administrator was allowed to give a ‘reflection’. I understand that my Church will say that the reflection was not the homily, but call it what you want…it’s the homily.

Yeah, people will call it something else, but a “reflection” or “testimony” given by a layperson during the time allotted to the homily… is an illegal homily. Canon law is VERY straightforward about this: 766 says laypeople can be given permission to preach in churches, without ignoring canon 767.1, which says that the homily is reserved to the ordained.

The archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis recently had a crackdown on lay preaching at Mass. It’s simply NOT allowed.

I further read in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal that lay persons cannot give the homily. By calling it a reflection, it appears as though the Church is using this as a work around. This does not make sense to me.

Right you are to resort to the GIRM in this case. As for it not making sense to you, join the club.

There are ordained Priests and Deacons readily available at Mass, yet a lay person is ‘reflecting’. I’ve been to other Churches in my diocese (Rochester, NY) and have seen Pastoral Adminstrators not only giving the entire homily, but wearing a vestment as well. This seems like an even larger abuse. GIRM states that lay persons should not wear vestments in an effor to avoid confusion.

Ack! What type of vestments? If it is anything OTHER than a plain white alb, that’s a GRAVE abuse. It is a grave abuse for a layperson to take the appearance or role of an ordained minister of the Church; this includes wearing clerical vestments (alb excluded).

Actually, since “pastoral administrator” is not a liturgical role, unless she is also a lector or an altar server or an EMHC, there’s no reason for her to be dressed in an alb either.

PLEASE do not hesitate to ask your pastor about this: ask, as calmly and gently and non-confrontationally as possible, why the “pastoral administrator” (and why on earth isn’t the PASTOR the pastoral administrator?) gave a “reflection” during the homily. Let him know you thought the Church restricted preaching during that time to ordained ministers only.

I fear, though, that because this problem is widespread through your diocese, it might have the permission of your bishop. Please let us know how things end up.

There are SO many documents of the Church that make it clear that NO ONE except an ordained minister of the Church can give a homily, no matter what their credentials are. Here are just a couple brief quotes from recent documents:

“The homily, therefore, during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, must be reserved to the sacred minister, Priest or Deacon to the exclusion of the non-ordained faithful, even if these should have responsibilities as ‘pastoral assistants’ or catechists in whatever type of community or group.” (Ecclesia de Mysterio, Art. 3, n. 1)

“The prohibition of the admission of laypersons to preach within the Mass applies also to seminarians, students of theological disciplines, and those who have assumed the function of those known as ‘pastoral assistants’; nor is there to be any exception for any other kind of layperson, or group, or community, or association.” (Redemptionis Sacramentum, n. 66)

Also, about proper terminology: “It is unlawful for the non-ordained faithful to assume titles such as ‘pastor’, ‘chaplain’, ‘coordinator’, ‘moderator’ or other such similar titles which can confuse their role and that of the Pastor, who is always a Bishop or Priest.” (Ecclesia de Mysterio, Art. 1, n. 3) What, exactly, does your “pastoral administrator” do? Is it anything like the “pastoral assistant” role described here, from Redemptionis Sacramentum (I doubt it):
149. More recently, in some dioceses long since evangelized, members of Christ’s lay faithful have been appointed as “pastoral assistants”, and among them many have undoubtedly served the good of the Church by providing assistance to the Bishop, Priests and Deacons in the carrying out of their pastoral activity. Let care be taken, however, lest the delineation of this function be assimilated too closely to the form of pastoral ministry that belongs to clerics. That is to say, attention should be paid to ensuring that “pastoral assistants” do not take upon themselves what is proper to the ministry of the sacred ministers.

1. The activity of a pastoral assistant should be directed to facilitating the ministry of Priests and Deacons, to ensuring that vocations to the Priesthood and Diaconate are awakened and that lay members of Christ’s faithful in each community are carefully trained for the various liturgical functions, in keeping with the variety of charisms and in accordance with the norm of law.

 

[Macd144]

Thank you very much for the helpful response. The vestment is a plain white alb and nothing more. I will do some more reading of the specific canon law you referenced and then I will attempt to address this with my Pastor. Thanks again for the help.

God Bless,

Mac

 

[John_Lilburne]

From the 2004 Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum:
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20040423_redemptionis-sacramentum_en.html “[74.] If the need arises for the gathered faithful to be given instruction or testimony by a layperson in a Church concerning the Christian life, it is altogether preferable that this be done outside Mass. Nevertheless, for serious reasons it is permissible that this type of instruction or testimony be given after the Priest has proclaimed the Prayer after Communion. This should not become a regular practice, however. Furthermore, these instructions and testimony should not be of such a nature that they could be confused with the homily,[156] nor is it permissible to dispense with the homily on their account.”

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Hello,

As a Catholic, I have become much more aware of the proper form for Mass and I wanted to ask a question about liturgy. A few Sunday’s ago, the Pastor of the Church read the Gospel and then one of our Deacons gave the homily. About one or two minutes into the homily, the Deacon announced that the Pastoral Adminstrator would continue with her ‘reflection’. I was puzzled by this considering that we had a Pastor present, as well as an ordained Deacon, yet the Pastoral Administrator was allowed to give a ‘reflection’. I understand that my Church will say that the reflection was not the homily, but call it what you want…it’s the homily. I further read in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal that lay persons cannot give the homily. By calling it a reflection, it appears as though the Church is using this as a work around. This does not make sense to me. There are ordained Priests and Deacons readily available at Mass, yet a lay person is ‘reflecting’. I’ve been to other Churches in my diocese (Rochester, NY) and have seen Pastoral Adminstrators not only giving the entire homily, but wearing a vestment as well. This seems like an even larger abuse. GIRM states that lay persons should not wear vestments in an effor to avoid confusion. This has me really down and out and I just don’t know if i am to just ignore this or should I be defending the faith more. I have not addressed my concerns with anyone at Church because i feel that i will be seen as an instigator but at the same time i feel i need to stand up for the principles behind GIRM and for the Church as a whole.

Thanks,

Mac

Your absolutely correct.

 

[EasterJoy]

From the 2004 Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum:
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20040423_redemptionis-sacramentum_en.html “[74.] If the need arises for the gathered faithful to be given instruction or testimony by a layperson in a Church concerning the Christian life, it is altogether preferable that this be done outside Mass. Nevertheless, for serious reasons it is permissible that this type of instruction or testimony be given after the Priest has proclaimed the Prayer after Communion. This should not become a regular practice, however. Furthermore, these instructions and testimony should not be of such a nature that they could be confused with the homily,[156] nor is it permissible to dispense with the homily on their account.”

In not a few parishes, the time between the start of the Gospel and the beginning of Holy Communion is clearly the high-water mark in terms of attendance. There is very little that everyone in the parish will have heard (or shall we say will have been physically present to hear), if the ordained don’t say it during the homily…for about three Sundays in a row, preferably including a major feast day.

Oh, well. These are the parameters we have to work with, or, as they say in medicine:
First, do no harm.

PS Somehow, it was my impression that if a deacon is present, then the reading of the Gospel is the deacon’s role, and not the main celebrant’s role, even if the deacon is the one giving the homily.
Is this not so?

 

[EasterJoy]

…why on earth isn’t the PASTOR the pastoral administrator…

There are parishes that have doubled in size and yet have one priest doing the ministry that three used to share. In other parishes, a priest who is well beyond retirement age takes on the pastoral ministry. Likewise, some priests are assuming the role of pastor far earlier in their priesthood than ever before. It as it was in Acts, when the Apostles discerned that they had too much ministry to do to be able to manage the work of administration, too. Would that there were enough men stepping forward to use the solution the Apostles did: appoint deacons, such as St. Stephen, to those tasks.

As it is, can we say quite bluntly that most of the pastoral administrators I know have done their work humbly and within the boundaries that the Church requires? In our present priest shortage, they are a treasure. Those few who cross the line into usurping the office of the ordained should not obscure that.

There are some very eloquent and well-spoken laity out there, very inspiring, especially among the religious sisters and brothers. I can fully understand the temptation of having them preach the homily at Mass. Still, I agree that there is a reason that only the ordained are called to do it.

Sometimes I wonder is if some are not under the impression that preaching at Mass is the only preaching there is to do, or if the importance of other preaching is not discounted too much? Can’t any Christian preach the truth freely, outside of Mass? Isn’t that our duty? Let’s be honest: there are many, many catechists who preach the Gospel very well! How many people remember what the Sisters taught them in school or what their parents taught them at home far better than they remember what their pastor taught them during Mass? This doesn’t even touch on evangelization to non-Catholics, leading retreats, and the rest. There is no lack of a need for it, and no lack of dignity in doing it.

It is the office of preaching to these preachers during the worship that is the Liturgy of the Word that is reserved for the ordained. That is a fraction of the preaching that we have to do…for what does the word “Mass” mean? To be sent forth. Homilies should be looked upon not so much as the bulk of our preaching, but as the initiation of it.

 

[Macd144]

I understand the priest shortage problem, however, it’s not like there wasn’t a priest and a deacon at Mass on the particular Sunday in question. My parish is a thriving one and one of the largest in the diocese. It has a Pastor as well as a couple of priests in residence and a couple of Deacons. Why the Pastor allowed the Pastoral Administrator (lay person) to give a ‘reflection’ during Mass, especially when ordained clergy are present, just does not make sense.

 

[Marysann]

Macd144, I share your pain. Although we live in Israel, we often visit the Rochester area since my husband’s family lives there. In fact my dear mother-in-law is now a resident in the Fairport Baptist Home. We have tried very hard to find a parish where significant abuses do not take place, and we have not found one yet. If they don’t err on the liberal side, they go too far the other way (ex. saying “for many” during the consecration has not been approved yet). We have gotten to the point that we refuse to be in the Rochester area on a Sunday. We have relatives in both the Buffalo and the Syracuse areas, so we can go to Mass in those dioceses. I have seen a lay woman preach at the suburban Rochester parish in which my husband grew up. I might have gotten up and left until the “homily” was over, but I was too shocked to move. I don’t think that there is an answer to your question. The powers that be in those parishes and that diocese know what the rules are, but for some reason they feel that the rules don’t apply to them or to the situation in Rochester. (We were introduced to the bishop after our nephew’s Confirmation at the cathedral in Rochester. You should have seen the look on his face when we told him the our home diocese was Arlington! We did not make any comments about the ceremony, but I admit we sat where it would be impossible to see what was going on up on the altar. Sometimes it is better just not to know!) This has been going on for so many years, and the people are so poorly catechized that they don’t realize that these things are wrong. I know that is the situation in my husband’s family. In a few years you will have a new bishop, and hopefully things will change. Many of these abuses are so intrenched that changing them is going to be very difficult. Look at the situation in Minneapolis-St. Paul right now. All you can do now is pray for Bishop Clark and for the diocese itself. If I were you, I would attend the Mass of 1962 downtown. Preparing yourself to attend the old Mass is a wonderful way to re-educate yourself about what is actually happening during the Holy Sacrifice. I can’t imagine that they allow lay preaching at that Mass.

 

[EasterJoy]

I understand the priest shortage problem, however, it’s not like there wasn’t a priest and a deacon at Mass on the particular Sunday in question. My parish is a thriving one and one of the largest in the diocese. It has a Pastor as well as a couple of priests in residence and a couple of Deacons. Why the Pastor allowed the Pastoral Administrator (lay person) to give a ‘reflection’ during Mass, especially when ordained clergy are present, just does not make sense.

I don’t disagree with that. The homily is the duty of the ordained. As I understand it, the laity may help write it–nothing wrong wiith that-- or may help translate it, if the homilist is not fluent, but the homily, as part of the act of worship that is the Mass, should be delivered by one of the ordained present.

 

[Macd144]

Marysann,

Thanks for your reply. It’s amazing at how various parishes in Rochester are so very different. The few in my town (Fairport) are all so very different. I love my faith, but am really struggling with the parish and diocese. You mentioned your home parish was Arlington? Arlington Texas? Just curious because you mentioned you were living in Israel. The catholic radion station here in town, hosted out of Buffalo, NY ( www.thestationofthecross.com ) has a lot of wonderful priests and they truly are wonderful. They offer a lot of wonderful programming including call in shows as well as conference talks (Fr. Corapi) and other shows like Dr. Ray. It’s wonderful having so many resources available nowadays like this website, as well as EWTN and Ave Maria Radio, etc. Rochester is a really nice area so i hope you enjoy your visits. Sure wish that the current situation with the diocese and parishes did not cause you problems on Sundays. Take care and God Bless,

Mac

 

[Marysann]

Macd144, we are from the great diocese of Arlington, Virginia. We will be leaving Israel in two weeks, and will be visiting the Rochester area in three weeks. We will get there on Monday and leave on Saturday! Upstate New York is beautiful, and we are looking forward to our visit.

 

[benedictgal]

What was relayed in the OP is wrong on so many levels.

According to Redemptionis Sacramentum:

[64.] The homily, which is given in the course of the celebration of Holy Mass and is a part of the Liturgy itself,142 “should ordinarily be given by the Priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating Priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to a Deacon, but never to a layperson.143 In particular cases and for a just cause, the homily may even be given by a Bishop or a Priest who is present at the celebration but cannot concelebrate”.144

[65.] It should be borne in mind that any previous norm that may have admitted non-ordained faithful to give the homily during the Eucharistic celebration is to be considered abrogated by the norm of canon 767 §1.145 This practice is reprobated, so that it cannot be permitted to attain the force of custom.

[66.] The prohibition of the admission of laypersons to preach within the Mass applies also to seminarians, students of theological disciplines, and those who have assumed the function of those known as “pastoral assistants”; nor is there to be any exception for any other kind of layperson, or group, or community, or association.146

This means that the parish administrator, as a lay person (even if the individual were a member of a religious cmmunity-nun or brother), is prohibited from “preaching.”

I would also suggest that you read this document regarding certain collaborations between the ordained clergy and the laitiy. This came out in 1997, but, it still applies today. Here is thel link:

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_interdic_doc_15081997_en.html

I would draw your attention to this statement:

The Homily

§ 1. The homily, being an eminent form of preaching, qua per anni liturgici cursum ex textu sacro fidei mysteria et normae vitae christianae exponuntia,(68) also forms part of the liturgy.

The homily, therefore, during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, must be reserved to the sacred minister, Priest or Deacon(69) to the exclusion of the non-ordained faithful, even if these should have responsibilities as “pastoral assistants” or catechists in whatever type of community or group. This exclusion is not based on the preaching ability of sacred ministers nor their theological preparation, but on that function which is reserved to them in virtue of having received the Sacrament of Holy Orders. For the same reason the diocesan Bishop cannot validly dispense from the canonical norm(70) since this is not merely a disciplinary law but one which touches upon the closely connected functions of teaching and sanctifying.

For the same reason, the practice, on some occasions, of entrusting the preaching of the homily to seminarians or theology students who are not clerics(71) is not permitted. Indeed, the homily should not be regarded as a training for some future ministry.

All previous norms which may have admitted the non-ordained faithful to preaching the homily during the Holy Eucharist are to be considered abrogated by canon 767, § 1.(72)

The whole document provides some good refeerences for you to use, in addition to the material provided by japhy.

I might add that those who wish to have pastoral assistants or lay administrators take a greater role will not find too sympathetic an ear at the Vatican. One of the authors of the 1997 document was none other than the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, so, I don’t think Pope Benedict is going to relax anything anytime soon.