German Church to be preached to death by laypersons. A theologian speaks out. Creating facts as modernist strategy

Theologian Hoping criticizes bishops' initiative on lay preaching

Freiburg liturgical scholar considers German bishops' initiative motivated by church politics

The plan by the German bishops to obtain an exception in Rome allowing lay preachers, i.e., non-ordained ministers, to preach at Mass is, in the view of Freiburg liturgical scholar Helmut Hoping, motivated by church politics. "Having failed to get their way with the central demands of the Synodal Path agenda, they probably don't want to end up empty-handed," he said in an interview with the Catholic weekly newspaper "Die Tagespost" (Thursday).

The German bishops' intention to obtain an exception in Rome allowing lay preachers, i.e., non-ordained ministers, to preach at Mass is, in the view of Freiburg liturgical scholar Helmut Hoping, motivated by church politics. The theologian added a caveat: It was interesting that the "Synodal Path" reform process of the Catholic Church in Germany, in its policy document, justified the demand for lay preaching at Mass not only with the shortage of priests and gender equality, but also with the need to ensure and improve the quality of preaching. If the preaching by priests and deacons is in a poor state, there is an urgent need for action, the expert stated.

More Sermons on weekdays

However, he was not convinced that this need for action actually exists. There is no obligation to preach at a weekday Mass, yet it is happening more and more frequently. This raises the question of why a priest should not be able to deliver the sermon at Sunday Mass: "Anyone who is able to preside over the celebration of the Eucharist as celebrant should also be physically able to interpret the scriptures." Foreign priests with language barriers should receive appropriate language training.

Hoping explained why, in his view, preaching at Mass should be reserved for ordained ministers: their special mission is both to proclaim and interpret the Word of God and to preside over the Eucharist. These two roles form a unity; priests and deacons are ordained for this ministry.

Creating facts as a strategy

The liturgical scholar said that the majority of German bishops apparently rely "on the normative power of the status quo" by emphasizing that lay preaching is already common practice in many places. "This strategy also seems to be pursued with regard to blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples, even though such blessing ceremonies are expressly prohibited by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith's declaration 'Fiducia Supplicans' (2023), as Cardinal Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery, has repeatedly made clear," he said. However, the strategy of creating facts on the ground was successful in Rome when it came to introducing communion in the hand.

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