Pope says lay people co-responsible for ‘being and action’ of Church

(August 24, 2012) The Church needs mature lay people who share equal responsibility for her universal mission and not as mere “collaborators” of the clergy. Pope Benedict XVI make the point in a message sent to the participants in the International Forum of Catholic Action currently taking place in Iasi, Romania. The Aug. 22-26 forum of the Catholic lay movement has brought together it representatives from around the world. The international forum promotes lay involvement in parish and community life, particularly through studying and acting on the principles of Catholic social teaching. "Co-responsibility,” Pope Benedict wrote in his message, “requires a change of mentality, particularly regarding the role in the church of the laity, who should not be considered 'collaborators' of the clergy, but people who truly are co-responsible for the being and action of the church." According to the Pontiff, the lay people with their experience can help pastors assess both spiritual and secular matters with greater clarity and opportunity. But because they are called to be frontline witnesses to the Gospel, the laity have the responsibility of announcing it with “the language and style that is understood by our times” the Pope said. The laity's role is of fundamental importance, especially “in this phase of history”, the Pope stressed, to be interpreted “in the light of the Church’s social teaching”, and also to be, “increasingly, a laboratory of the globalization of solidarity and charity”, so as to grow, with the whole Church, in the shared responsibility of offering humanity a future of hope and with the courage to formulate demanding proposals”. Pope Benedict also invited members of the Catholic lay movement to renew their commitment “to walking on the way of holiness, keeping up an intense life of prayer, encouraging and respecting personal ways of faith”.