The Layman in the Church

THE LAYMAN IN THE CHURCH 1 T HE purpose of this article is modest, to sketch in broad lines the place of the layman, seen theologically, in the Church. A general view of the limits of what is possible and permissible, of what pertains to the laity and what does not, will guard us against breaking through dividing lines and will prevent our committing errors like the one frequently made, in connection with proposals for the coming General Council, that the diaconate should be re-established as an independent order and should be considered as the " summit of the lay apostolate." That the diaconate should be something more than a stepping-stone to the priesthood is quite justifiably desired by many people; but it is essentially a clerical state and can, under no aspect, be called lay-apostolate. THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF LAYMAN The Christian Term "Layman" By reason, not so much of the secularisation of society, as of the laicist atmosphere in which this secularisation has been concretely pursued, the term "lay person," as used by nonChristians , has usually for Catholic ears (in continental countries ) an unfavourable connotation. In the period since the middle of the nineteenth century the sense of the term has swung from something like "free-thinker" by way of "anticlerical " to "non-cleric " and " non-religious " (in the sense of one who is not a monk or a nun). In the nineteenth century the term " societe la'ique " and " enseignement lai:que " made their appearance, having the sense of, not simply nonreligious , but rather positively extra-religious, with the impli1 Editor's Note: This article in its present form was published in Doctrine and Life, St. Saviour's, Dublin, July and August, 1961. The translation from the Dutch (Tijdschrift voor Geestelijk Leven, 1959, pp. 669-694) was made by Colman O'Neill, 0. P., and checked by the author. In Doctrine and Life it was published with an Editor's Note and a Translator's Note, q. v. THE LAYMAN IN THE CHURCH 263 cation of anti-religious. In our own day, at least as far as the term itself is concerned, this unfavourable connotation has disappeared so that now even Christians can be quite ready to accept its use. Consequently, when we find in the new French Constitution intentions that the state as such, is concerned only with secular, "l'Etat est la'ique," this means, if we disregard subjective ulterior intentions, that the state as such, is concerned only with secular affairs and, moreover, is in this sphere autonomous. The confusion attached to the notion is such that, as late as 1945, the Italian Parliament witnessed the following exchange between a socialist and a Catholic deputy . To the demand of a socialist that a "lay person" be appointed minister of education, the Catholic, De Gasperi, replied heatedly that there had never been any intention of appointing a cleric to this post. To which the socialist retorted with equal heat that his meaning was being twisted, that he was not concerned about clerics; by " lay person " he understood a non-Catholic. The sense attached to the term lay person in theology derives very clearly from Scripture. When the Canon Law uses the term "laicus," a lay person, in the sense of "christifidelis," i. e., one who believes, this has a remote basis in the Scriptures themselves. The word "laikos" comes from "laos," people . In profane Greek usage this signifies the people as distinct from the rulers and leaders of the people, thus as distinct from the ruling and intellectual classes. In the Bible this word has a more precise signification, being applied exclusively to the people of God as distinct from the Gentiles. The " laos " is tlie people, God's people, that is, in relation to the Christian era, the Church of Christ. At the same time, nevertheless , the Scripture uses this term also in contrast to the leaders of this people of God, namely, in contrast to the priests, levites and prophets. The people or the " laos " is that part of the Church that is subject to the leadership and control of the Church's hierarchy. Going on to the word "laikos," from...