Pope: Laypeople should shut up, keep their heads down and let the clergy get on with the job...
Blogged by James Preece on 29th May 2009
No wait...
ROME, MAY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Laypeople are not merely the clergy's collaborators, but rather share in the responsibility of the Church's ministry, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope called on the laity to become more aware of their role when he inaugurated Tuesday an ecclesial conference for the Diocese of Rome on "Church Membership and Pastoral Co-responsibility." The conference is under way through Friday.
"There should be a renewed becoming aware of our being Church and of the pastoral co-responsibility that, in the name of Christ, all of us are called to carry out," the Holy Father said. This co-responsibility should advance "respect for vocations and for the functions of consecrated persons and laypeople," he added.
The Pontiff acknowledged that this requires a "change of mentality," especially regarding laypeople, shifting from "considering themselves collaborators of the clergy to recognizing themselves truly as 'co-responsible' for the being and action of the Church, favoring the consolidation of a mature and committed laity."
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Don't misinterpret this: "shared responsibility" is not the same as "shared power" or "shared authority".
What shared responsibility means is that if we have priests and laity who are doing things they shouldn't and bishops who won't do anything about it then we have the responsibility to do whatever we can about it.
