Vjernici laici u crkvenim službama
LAY PEOPLE IN CHURCH MINISTRIES

Summary/Abstract: A modern way of living – in which co-responsibility and care of all members of the community or the society for the common good is highlighted and put into practice – is also visible in today’s Church. A major contribution to this was made by the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, in which the Council explicitly lays out, chapter by chapter, the nature of each individual’s duties. The Council stresses that all are included, all are co-responsible, and all are called to cooperate: from the Pope, who is Christ’s vicar, through the bishops and priests, to the last lay believer. In addition to the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church we regularly find this idea of involvement and co-responsibility in other documents of the Second Vatican Council. Because of the specific circumstances of the church in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the article focuses in particular on the stance that the clergy should adopt toward lay people, especially toward women. Current church regulations are examined to establish in what way, when, and in what areas lay people can and should help; how to prepare for this help; how to evaluate it and how to reward it, including, where appropriate, the question of payment, especially in circumstances where lay people are clearly better qualified than members of the clergy, areas that should not be neglected. The article concludes with an explanation of the instruction, Ecclesiae de mysterio, and points to dangers, such as overextension, that many local Churches fall into. In light of this, the Holy See, with this large but clear document, calls for cooperation between priests and lay people, but also cautions against serious theological and canonical failures, and expresses the hope that pastors, through this Instruction, will have clear direction for future and fruitful cooperation.

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