Vatican dicastery to German bishops: Laypeople cannot preach during Mass

The Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments this month told the president of the German Bishops’ Conference in a response letter that laypeople may not, even in exceptional circumstances, give the homily during Mass, explaining that this answer is rooted in the nature of the liturgy itself, not a disciplinary norm. 

According to a June 23 Vatican News report, the dicastery sent the June 17 letter to Bishop Heiner Wilmer after the German bishops requested in March an indult — a special favor given from the Apostolic See — to allow “a duly commissioned lay member of the faithful to preach in place of the homily” during Mass in exceptional circumstances. 

“While the Dicastery expressed appreciation for the pastoral concerns that inspired the request, it reaffirmed that the current discipline cannot be dispensed from by means of an indult, since the reservation of the homily to a priest or deacon is not a merely disciplinary norm but derives from the very nature of the liturgy,” Vatican News reported. 

The dicastery explained that the homily is an integral part of the Liturgy of the Word and “is intrinsically linked to the proclamation of the Gospel,” and is an exercising of the ministry entrusted to those who have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders, according to Vatican News. 

The letter, written in German, was signed by Cardinal Arthur Roche, the dicastery prefect. 

The letter also explained “that the proclamation of the Word within the liturgical celebration is inseparable from the mission received sacramentally and from the unity that binds together Word and Sacrament in the Eucharistic celebration,” Vatican News noted. 

The letter encouraged ongoing formation for clergy to support delivering homilies, and noted that there are legitimate ways for laypeople to proclaim the Gospel outside of Mass. Though the report did not mention if such an example was given, one may share about the Gospel in spaces such as the workplace or at retreats, or online.