The Spirit of the Lord Jesus, the perennial source of the Church's life and mission, distributes to the members of the People of God the gifts that enable each one, in different ways, to contribute to the building up of the Church and the proclamation of the Gospel. These charisms, called ministries for being publicly recognized and instituted by the Church, are placed at the disposal of the community and its mission in a stable manner.
In some cases this ministerial contribution has its origin in a specific sacrament, Holy Orders. Other tasks, throughout history, have been instituted in the Church and entrusted through a non-sacramental liturgical rite to the faithful, in virtue of a particular form of exercise of the baptismal priesthood, and in aid of the specific ministry of bishops, priests and deacons.
Following a venerable tradition, the reception of the "lay ministries," which St. Paul VI regulated in the Motu Proprio Ministeria quaedam (August 17, 1972), preceded as a preparation for the reception of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, although such ministries were conferred on other suitable male members of the faithful.
Some assemblies of the Synod of Bishops have highlighted the need to deepen doctrinally the theme, so that it responds to the nature of these charisms and the needs of the times, and offers timely support to the role of evangelization that concerns the ecclesial community.
Accepting these recommendations, recent years have seen a doctrinal development that has highlighted how certain ministries instituted by the Church have as their foundation the common condition of being baptized and the royal priesthood received in the sacrament of Baptism; these are essentially distinct from the ordained ministry received in the sacrament of Holy Orders. Indeed, a consolidated practice in the Latin Church has also confirmed that these lay ministries, being based on the sacrament of Baptism, can be entrusted to all the suitable faithful, whether male or female, as is already implicitly provided for in canon 230 § 2.
Consequently, after having heard the opinion of the competent Dicasteries, I have decided to proceed with the modification of canon 230 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law. Therefore, I decree that canon 230 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law in the future will have the following wording:
"Lay persons of the age and conditions determined by decree of the Episcopal Conference may be called to the stable ministry of lector and acolyte, by means of the prescribed liturgical rite; however, the collation of these ministries does not entitle them to be supported or remunerated by the Church.".
I also provide for the modification of the other elements, with the force of law, that refer to this canon.
The deliberations of this Apostolic Letter in the form of a Motu Proprio, I order that they shall have firm and stable force, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, even if worthy of special mention, and that they shall be promulgated by publication in L'Osservatore RomanoThe new law will become effective on the same day, and then be published in the official commentary on the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.
Given at St. Peter's, Rome, on January 10, 2021, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the eighth of my Pontificate.
Francisco
