It’s not as if they weren’t having lay preachers at Mass in Germany already. This was just an attempt to have an established practice ‘blessed’ by Rome. All this decision means is that the next time a lay person gets up to preach a homily during Mass, she (more likely) or he will proudly be labeled a ‘rebel.’
If that happens it'll be interesting to see the HF's response, since, in accordance with his treatment of the SSPX, excommunication of any disobedient Germans would be required.
My favourite part in this whole letter was +Heimer saying "exceptional circumstances". I can point to a laundry list of things that Sacrosanctum Concilium and beyond have allowed in "exceptional circumstances" that just become the doorway for it to become the local modus operandi. Take Communion in the hand, the vernacular in the Mass or so many other things.
Where's the teeth in this letter? If priests and bishops in the German church continue with "lay homilies," perhaps just propped up as Lay Reflections, what are the consequences?
I have great faith in the Church, but very little on the Vatican following through with consequences to certain groups within the Church.
How much of this will become a 10-word homily followed immediately by a "lay reflection" to skirt the wording of the law but violate the meaning of the law?
I, like you, think this was a good letter from the DDW since it cut off many of the lines of argumentation that the ZdK was making. I'm just incredibly dubious that there will be any enforcement on those who violate the law in the churches (German, Swiss, Netherlands) where this is practiced.
The unequal application of the law by the Vatican is one of the things that I struggle with most when I defend the faith. It's demoralizing when the best defense you can give is that you shouldn't leave the Church because of the failings of Judas and "our" (royal usage) own human failings. Pope Francis was unobjectively terrible about this and it sent me down some pretty dark paths. Pope Leo has been far more even-handed, but boy-howdy is it difficult to be optimistic of anything but for the hope of the beatific vision and the second-coming.
It’s not as if they weren’t having lay preachers at Mass in Germany already. This was just an attempt to have an established practice ‘blessed’ by Rome. All this decision means is that the next time a lay person gets up to preach a homily during Mass, she (more likely) or he will proudly be labeled a ‘rebel.’
If that happens it'll be interesting to see the HF's response, since, in accordance with his treatment of the SSPX, excommunication of any disobedient Germans would be required.
My favourite part in this whole letter was +Heimer saying "exceptional circumstances". I can point to a laundry list of things that Sacrosanctum Concilium and beyond have allowed in "exceptional circumstances" that just become the doorway for it to become the local modus operandi. Take Communion in the hand, the vernacular in the Mass or so many other things.
Where's the teeth in this letter? If priests and bishops in the German church continue with "lay homilies," perhaps just propped up as Lay Reflections, what are the consequences?
I have great faith in the Church, but very little on the Vatican following through with consequences to certain groups within the Church.
The language cited in the article was clear that relabeling the homily does not change it, and it must still be given by a priest or deacon.
(Copied from my Starting Seven comment)
How much of this will become a 10-word homily followed immediately by a "lay reflection" to skirt the wording of the law but violate the meaning of the law?
I, like you, think this was a good letter from the DDW since it cut off many of the lines of argumentation that the ZdK was making. I'm just incredibly dubious that there will be any enforcement on those who violate the law in the churches (German, Swiss, Netherlands) where this is practiced.
The unequal application of the law by the Vatican is one of the things that I struggle with most when I defend the faith. It's demoralizing when the best defense you can give is that you shouldn't leave the Church because of the failings of Judas and "our" (royal usage) own human failings. Pope Francis was unobjectively terrible about this and it sent me down some pretty dark paths. Pope Leo has been far more even-handed, but boy-howdy is it difficult to be optimistic of anything but for the hope of the beatific vision and the second-coming.
Good article, succinct and sufficient, thank you.