The German Episcopal Conference will formally request from the Holy See authorization to allow qualified laypeople to preach during Eucharistic celebrations. The decision was announced by the new president of the episcopate, Bishop Heiner Wilmer, at the end of the spring plenary assembly held in Würzburg.
According to the German portal Katholisch, the bishops have approved a regulation on the ministry of preaching that provides for duly trained women and men, officially commissioned, to assume this function in the Mass. For the provision to come into effect, the corresponding approval from Rome will be necessary.
Application of a Text from the Synodal Way
The initiative fulfills one of the texts approved in the German Synodal Way, the reform process started in 2019 that has proposed changes in various areas of ecclesial life.
Wilmer explained that he will personally take the regulation on his next trip to Rome to request the Vatican recognitio and present the content of the project to the competent authorities.
Currently, Canon Law (canon 767 §1) reserves the homily within the Eucharistic celebration to the priest or deacon, so any modification would require explicit permission from the Holy See.
Synodality and Next Steps in Rome
In the framework of the same visit to Rome, the president of the Episcopal Conference plans to also request approval of the statutes of the future German Synodal Conference, conceived as a stable body to give continuity to the process started by the Synodal Way.
During the plenary assembly, the bishops also addressed issues related to the integration of the results of the universal Synod into German pastoral life, as well as matters related to the prevention and reparation of sexual abuses.
Wilmer, elected this week as the new president in place of Georg Bätzing, stated that his intention is to strengthen internal unity within the episcopate and to play a mediating role in the face of existing differences.