A symposium of preachers and theologians hosted by the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St Louis USA in March 2024, has made a formal submission to the Synod seeking a change in canon law to allow suitably qualified lay people to preach at Mass.
The Church’s law currently allows lay preaching but restricts giving the homily at Mass, the form of preaching most commonly experienced by the laity, to those in ordained ministry.
The symposium asks the Synod to consider introducing a new ministry of Lay Preacher alongside those of Acolyte and Lector, and the new ministry of Catechist introduced by Pope Francis in May 2021.
The symposium document concludes, “Liturgically, our proposals hold a promise to expand the theological understanding and ministerial reality of lay preaching at Eucharist. Theologically, we invite a grounding away from the distinction between clergy and laity toward the relationships of community and ministry. Ecclesially, we seek a Church in which the baptismal call of every believer, given by the Spirit for the benefit of the Church, will be more fully realized, including the ministry of the layperson as preacher at Eucharist.”