Exiit qui seminat - Pope Frances Changes Rules

You may have heard recently that Pope Francis made some changes to the rules of the Catholic Church to allow women to be admitted to the minor ministries of lector and acolyte. So what does that actually mean, especially in the light of the fact that women regularly read at Mass or distribute the Blessed Sacrament as an Extraordinary Minister of Communion (also known as an Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister)? If we look at the history of the Church, there were specific roles in the Church that assisted the priest in liturgical celebrations: porter, exorcist, lector, and acolyte. The porter took care of opening and closing the door (a monumental task in larger churches). Exorcists had nothing to do with Linda Blair and pea soup. Rather exorcists prayed with and prepared adults and children in order to get them ready for the Sacrament of Baptism. In fact there is still a prayer of exorcism (a prayer of protection for a child and his or her family) that is a part of the current ritual for the celebration of Baptism. The lector would read from Sacred Scripture at Mass and the acolyte was originally designated to light the candles at the altar (also a monumental task before the advent of electricity) and would accompany a priest with a candle so that he would be able to read from the various liturgical books. Since they were so closely associated to the Mass, these roles became stepping stones for men on the journey to the priesthood. As times, technology and practices changed, these "minor orders" became mostly symbolic and in 1972 Pope St. Paul VI did away with the minor orders and left only as special ministries the role of lector as minster of the Word and acolyte, as a minister of the altar. Both of these special ministries were still connected closely to the priesthood.

In recent years, there have been recommendations from the various synods and meetings of different regions of the Church which posited that these roles just weren't roles for those who were studying to the priesthood but a part of the threefold role of Jesus Christ as priest, prophet and king that every person enters into on the day of their Baptism. It is this "universal priesthood" of all the baptized laity that gives women an opportunity to share in these minor ministries which other lay members of the faithful already participate. These lay ministries are “fundamentally distinct from the ordained ministry that is received through the Sacrament of Holy Orders" and doesn't pave the way for women's ordination (which Pope St. John Paul II definitively taught that the Church lacked the authority to allow).

So now, “[l]ay persons who possess the age and qualifications established by decree of the conference of bishops can be admitted on a stable basis through the prescribed liturgical rite to the ministries of lector and acolyte.” This means that after appropriate preparation and study, that both lay men and women can be appointed to these special lay ministries in assisting at Mass. While some may say that this is "earth shattering", all it really does reaffirm what we already practice as a local Church - that all the faithful are called to serve and actively participate in the liturgical life of the Catholic Church.

Sincerely yours in Christ, Fr. Rob Sinatra