Rome rejects German bishops’ proposal for lay preaching at Mass

The Vatican’s declaration will come as a blow to the German bishops and to their new chairman who personally championed most of the radical proposals advanced by the conference

(The Catholic Herald) — On Tuesday, the Vatican announced it had given a firm rejection to the German bishops’ proposal that lay people be allowed to deliver homilies during Mass.

A press release from the Dicastery for Divine Worship on June 23 conveyed news of the Holy See’s response to a request from the German bishops’ conference (DBK), which had sought for members of the laity to have rights normally reserved to clergy. According to the DBK’s vote and request, lay people would have had the right “in exceptional circumstances” to deliver a homily at Mass.

The DBK vote on the matter came on February 26, just after the election of Bishop Heiner Wilmer SCJ as the new chairman of the DBK, and its request was made to the Vatican on March 30.

But in denying such a plea, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments wrote that… … …

The rest of this news report can be found on The Catholic Herald, where it was originally published.