In a previous post I asked the same question regarding the Synodal Path in Germany and the failed Synodal Council. Sadly, the German Bishops have been shown up again in the reply of the Holy See to them refusing the possibility of allowing non-clergy to preach homilies. Hence, I tag onto the title of the blogpost "again?" Why can this be seen as such a humiliating situation? Surely, one might ask, they had the right to request such a dispensation from the liturgical and canonical law of a merely ecclesiastical provision?
Why is this such a humiliation for the bishops? For a start, there is already an authentic interpretation of the law from the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Canonical Texts which was given on 26 May 1987. This denied the possibility of dispensing from the norm that the homily can be given by anyone other than the ordained. It is clear from canon 767 para 1 that the homily "is part of the liturgy itself" (lat. quae est pars ipsius liturgiae). I think we can also go on to point out that the proclamation of the Word, which includes the homily, is declared by the Church to be "the first duty" (lat. primum officium) for the ordained minister (Presbyterorum ordinis, 4). St Paul declares also: "and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!" (1 Cor 9: 16). Hence, the homily is not only constitutive of the liturgy itself but also of ordained ministry. It is not impossible to dispense from divine law.
Again, how can the German Bishops get something so obvious wrong? Why do they wish to undermine the ordained ministry? How do they understand their own ministry especially as bishops who are called to proclaim the Word in their own cathedrals and elsewhere?
If we go back prior to Vatican II it was thought that the sermon or homily, being in the vernacular, was not a part of the Mass proper. Hence, priests would make the Sign of the Cross to indicated the start of the homily and repeat this at the conclusion to show that the sacred action was about to resume. There was provision in the liturgy for notices and other information pertinent to the congregation, also to be given at this time, which was referred to as Prone. In addition, the liturgical law grants the possibility that when the congregation is composed of young children and the priest is elderly or in some other way unable to communicate effectively with the youngsters that their teacher can speak. I would say that this provision comes under the canonical maxim "in cases of moral or physical impossibility the law does not bind." Or, it might be said that this provision is a liturgical norm that is, in fact, an anomaly which needs to be corrected given the interpretations given elsewhere. There was also given the opportunity to given an explanation of the context of the readings prior to their proclamation, as the Church transitioned from Latin to the vernacular. On occasions such an explanation might have been given to lay people just as they often do an introduction to the Mass or read out notices at the conclusion of the celebration. Most of all, however, I think the German Bishops are looking to circumvent the inability of the Church to ordain women to the priesthood. Given that there were deaconesses in the early Church, and that deacons can preach homilies, there was a possibility in their minds that lay women, deaconesses or otherwise, might take this role.
There is a necessary distinction, which also should be made for the homilist as for the lay person, between preaching in canon 766 and homilies. This is given in canon 767 para 1 itself where it is pointed out that the homily: "... the mysteries of faith and the norms of Christian life are to be explained from the sacred text during the course of the liturgical year" (lat. in eadem per anni liturgici cursum ex textu sacro fidei mysteria et normae vitae christianae exponantur). To my mind the key words here are "the sacred text." This means that the homilist is not moralizing. teaching or lecturing the people. he is breaking open the Word which has just been proclaimed to the congregation by the ordained minister. he is not free to say whatever he likes. He is at the service of the Gospel. He preaches with apostolic authority given to the Apostles by the Lord and handed on by them to their successors to the ordained. This is attested to by St Justin Martry who records about AD 150:
"And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs [letters] of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president [the presiding priest or bishop] verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things."
Just as with the inability of the Church to ordain women, I think the proclamation of the Gospel and its interpretation within the liturgy of the Mass is a constitutive element of the apostolic nature of the Church. As a result, it cannot be compromised. Every time we recite the Nicene Creed, we affirm that: " I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church." It is this Church to which the German Bishops belong, and I pray it stays that way.
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