THE THEOLOGY OF THE LAY APOSTOLATE When Monsignor Murphy requested me to prepare this paper on the theology of the lay apostolate for the 19S9 convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America he indicated that the Com- mittee on Current Problems was interested in the topic in order that a course on the subject could be worked into the seminary frame- work. This seminar, therefore, has a twofold purpose: an inquiry into the theological problems of the lay apostolate and the more practical issue of the relationship of those questions to the seminary curriculum. In order that the second objective might be at least par- tially realized a letter was mailed to the major seminaries of the United States to determine the present status of the theology of the lay apostolate in the seminary course. Forty-five replies were re- ceived and the information can be summarized rather briefly. Nine- teen of the forty-five seminaries said that nothing or practically nothing was done. The remaining twenty-six all treated the topic in one way or another, either in elective seminars, special classes or lectures, in extra-curricular activities or in other classes. The most common method was to consider the lay apostolate in courses already in the curriculum, for example in Dogma (de Ecclesia, de Baptismo, de Confirmatione, de Verbo Incarnato), in Missiology, Pastoral Theology and Catechetics. In the last three cases the treatment tended to be more practical. Whether or not a special course should be introduced into the seminary is questionable. Those who expressed themselves on this point thought that the cur- riculum is already overcrowded and that seminarians have too little opportunity for individual study and reflection. One thought it could be handled better through seminars and the personal initiative of the seminarians. Perhaps this is one of the points that could be discussed with profit. 145 146 The Theology of the Lay Apostolate A theological exploration of the lay apostolate presents two major difficulties. In the first place there is such a vast sea of liter- ature—and the forecast is for more—that practically speaking it is impossible to be acquainted with everything. Moreover, much of the literature tends to emphasize motivation and technique rather than the theological foundations of the lay apostolate. Secondly, as Aubert points out, the field constitutes a new object for theological analysis.1 This very newness gives it a fluidity that makes it diffi- cult to organize. Father Francis Keating in his review of Gerard Philips book Le rôle du latcat dans l'église, surmises: "It would seem that a satisfactory structure for a theology of the laity has yet to be attained." 2 Père Congar of Le Saulchoir, the real giant of the field 3 upon whom I have relied to a great extent, in the original French shrewdly entitled his book, Pointers to a Theology of the Laity. Needless to say, this paper makes no pretense of being the awaited millenium. In order to meet the difficulties the subject has been limited to the lay apostolate. An entire theology of the laity including such questions as the theology of terrestrial realities, the laity and the teaching authority of the Church, etc. is beyond my intent. Sec- ondly, I have avoided the questions of technique since these pertain more to the carrying out of the apostolate in a practical manner than to the theology underlying the lay apostolate. The outline I will follow is the following: I. What is a layman? II. What is the apostolate? III. The layman in the apostolate of the Church. IV. Forms of the apostolate. V. The obligation to participate in the apostolate. VI. The Liturgy and the apostolate. 1 Roger Aubert, La théologie catholique au milieu de XXe siècle, Caster- man, Tournai, 1954, p. 52. 2 Francis M. Keating, S.J., review of Gerard Philips, Le rôle du laicat dans l'église, Theological Studies, 16:1 (March, 1955), 151. 8 Congar is the one who has done the most to go beyond the merely prac- tical aspects and consider properly theological problems. Cf. Aubert, op. cit., p. 55. 147 The Theology of the Lay Apostolate I. WHAT IS A LAYMAN? The first task to be undertaken in an attempt to uncover the theological foundations of the lay apostolate is to determine what a layman is. Agere sequitur esse. When used in theology the word lay does not mean "profane." It has none of the undertones asso- ciated with the European term "laicism"4 or the English word "secularism," both of which imply a positive exclusion of God and religion from public life. Defining a layman amounts to taking a number of ideas, putting them together and saying they spell lay- man. The layman is a member of the people of God, is baptized and confirmed, is the recipient of charisms, is Christ visible in the world and differs in function, from the cleric, in state of life, from the religious. Consider these points one by one. A. THE LAYMAN A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH In the theological sense the word lay derives from the Greek which signifies the people of God as opposed to the £8vr].5 The layman, therefore, is essentially a member of a chosen race, a mem- ber of the plebs sancta. Only in our own times is the theology of the Church emerging from the defensive attitude struck in warding off the errors of Protestantism, Gallicanism and statism. Congar describes two aspects of the Church, neither of which can be slighted if a full ecclesiology is to develop. The first aspect of the Church is the communal principle, the radical meaning of ecclesia, expressed in such terms as congregatio fidelium, societas fidelium, collectio, coetus, adunatio, etc. Under this aspect the Church is made up of her members, and her members contribute to her development and * Philips cites an interesting example of this. "For the Italian Socialists, the word 'lay' has the same flavor of opposition to all religious influence. When de Gasperi formed his first cabinet, they implored him to appoint a 'layman' for the department of education. And when he answered that he had no intention of having a priest or religious, they were forced to become more explicit; they wanted above all a non-Catholic." Gerard Philips, The Role of the Laity in the Church, Fides, Chicago, 1956, p. 7. Hereafter refer- ences to Philips are to this English translation. 5 Ives M. J. Congar, O.P., Lay people in the Church, Bloomsbury, London, 1957, p. 1. Most of this section is based on Congar, pp. 22-52. 148 The Theology of the Lay Apostolate being. The Church is constituted from below and is the community of the faithful. The second aspect of the Church is her institutional or heirarchical side according to which she has a certain structure and exists prior to her members. Until recently the hierarchical principle was the capital factor in the treatise fife Ecclesia. There is, of course, no conflict between these two aspects. The Church is at once a community and an institution, a structured society and a life. But too much emphasis on either part produces only a caricature of the Church. It is obvious moreover, that a lack of stress on the communal aspect of the Church produces a corre- sponding de-emphasis on the role of the laity. Lay people tend to be viewed as passive subjects of the ministrations of the hierarchy, the taught people, a rather passive mass waiting for directions. Only when the Church is seen in its fullness as the Christian com- munity can the active role of the laity clearly emerge. As Congar remarks: "At bottom, forgetfulness of the true role of lay people leads both to clericalism in the Church and to laicism in the world." 6 These two aspects of the Church are united in the concept of the Mystical Body. Christ the Head passes on His power and life to His body, the Church. Like a body the Church has life and struc- ture, each part fulfilling its function for the good of the whole. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were hearing, where would be the smelling? But as it is, God has set the members, each of them, in the body as he willed. Now if they were all one member, where would the body be? But as it is, there are indeed many members yet but one body.7 St. Paul hardly tires of repeating this theme. It is clear, therefore, that the layman has an active function in the building up of the body of Christ. B. THE LAYMAN AS BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED What is the function of the layman? This body to which the layman belongs has a sacerdotal nature as is expressed in the often- 6 Ibid., p. 47. 7 1 Cor. 12, 17-20. 149 The Theology of the Lay Apostolate quoted section of I Peter. "Be you yourselves as living stones, built thereon into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. . . . You, however, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood. ..." 8 It is through Baptism and Confirmation that the neophyte is initiated into the priestly society and through the characters of these sacraments the member of the Church shares in the priesthood of Christ. Hence, the ques- tion is, how are these two sacraments related to the lay apostolate? Father Hesburgh defines priesthood in terms of mediatorship. Christ is the mediator and His mediation was effected primarily in the Incarnation and prolonged through the mediatorial act of Re- demption.9 Since the character is a participation in the priesthood of Christ, the laity as members of the Church have a part in the priestly acts of worship and apostolate.10 To effect this sharing the characters confer active and passive powers on the recipient. In this context he explains the baptismal character as an initiation into the Church enabling the baptized to take part in Christ's priestly media- tion, and particularly, in the Liturgy.11 Confirmation completes baptism and, involving a more complete participation in the priest- hood of Christ, confers the light and strength of the Spirit to mani- fest the faith and the energies necessary for the spiritual warfare against the enemies of the Faith. The character, therefore, serves as the basis of the lay apostolate.12 This analysis of Father Hesburgh is based throughout on St. Thomas and manuals of theology, in general, would reflect more or less the same point of view. The BAC series, for example, states that the baptismal character makes one a member of Christ while the character of confirmation makes one a soldier of Christ the King. Through the character of confirmation the Christian has a share in the apostolate.13 8 1 Peter 2, 5, 9. 'Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., The Relation of the Sacramental Char- acters of Baptism and Confirmation to the Lay Apostolate, Catholic Univer- sity of America Press, Washington, D. C., 1946, pp. 52-57. 10 Ibid., p. 133. 11 Ibid., p. 149 ff. 12 Ibid., pp. 167-177. 18 BAC, Sacrae Theologiae Summa, IV, de sacramentis in specie, singillatim, n. 154. 180 The Theology of the Lay Apostolate More recent articles, however, show a definite tendency to find the primary effect of confirmation in something other than the strength necessary for an outward manifestation of the Faith. Abbé Luykx maintains that the specific object of confirmation is the active participation in eucharistie worship and only secondarily does it strengthen for battle.14 Father Crehan in a survey of literature on baptism and confirmation concludes to much the same. He writes: "The attempt to select as the principal effect of confirmation the active witnessing to the faith and thus to call confirmation the sac- rament of Catholic Action has done good to Catholic Action but harm to the true notion of the sacrament, as H. Zeller remarks."16 However, whatever the theological relationship between baptism and confirmation they are the sacraments of initiation. They join a person to the people of God and confer a participation in the priesthood of Christ. Hence the laity as members of a living sacer- dotal society which has a mission or apostolate share in that aposto- late. Although it would be contrary to the present trend of theologi- cal investigation to overemphasize the connection between the lay apostolate and confirmation, it would be understating the case to deny all relationship between the two. The fundamental factor seems to be the insertion into the body of Christ and the witnessing this involves. Whether it comes specifically from confirmation awaits further research but there is little doubt that membership in the Mystical Body implies apostleship. It is common to read that we are baptized for ourselves and confirmed for others. Perhaps it would be better to say that two sacraments operate in both direc- tions and that confirmation is the sealing of Baptism. C. THE LAITY AND CHAEISMS The Austrian Jesuit Karl Rahner16 includes charisms given to " Boniface Luykx, O.Praem., "Confirmation Today," Worship, 33:6 (May, 19S9), 333. 18 Joseph Crehan, "Ten Years' Work on Baptism and Confirmation," Theological Studies, 17:4 (December, 19S6), SIS. 16 Karl Rahner, S.J., "L'apostolat des laïcs," Nouvelle Revue Thiologique, 78 (19S6), 9-10. A condensation of this article is found in Theology Digest, 5:2 (Spring, 19S7). The Theology of the Lay Apostatiate 151 the laity as a factor in the theology of the apostolate. By charisms he does not mean the spectacularly unusual but rather such things as a message received from heaven and transmitted to the Church, the power of an especiallly saintly life or the uncovering of a new aspect of Christian faith or life. It is necessary only to recall Fatima, a Matt Talbot or Frederick Ozanam to realize that the Spirit breathes where He wills.17 He ranges throughout the entire societas fideliunt. Ecclesiastical authority, of course, has the right and duty to discern what is or is not of the Spirit. D. THE LAITY AND THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST The laity make Christ visible in the world. Father Baumgartner in the introduction to Rahner's article refers to the current trend among German theologians to view the Church as a sacrament. The Church, and therefore, the faithful, is the actual, sensible presence of Christ in the world. Hence, the baptismal character ought not to be envisaged exclusively as an ontological, invisible reality. Since it integrates a person into the community of salvation it admits of an essentially visible element.18 E. DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE LAITY AND CLERGY The distinctive mark of the clergy is service at the altar. Cleri- cature is a function in the Church entered into by ordination.19 Canon Law clearly states the difference. Ordo ex Christi institutione clericos a laicis in Ecclesia distinguit ad fidelium regimen et cultus divinus ministerhtm.20 The clergy, therefore, possess the powers of IT philips cites some examples of growth from below in the Church: Juli- anne of Cornillon, Paray-le Monial, the Beguinage movement, the Franciscan revival, Bridget of Sweden, Catherine of Sienna, Gertrude, Mathilda, Lutgarde, Joan of Arc. Philips, op. tit., p. 30. 18 Ch. Baumgartner, S.J., in the introduction to Rahner, art. tit., p. 3. Congar is also fond of the notion of the Church a sacrament. It is one that goes to very heart of ecclesiology. Cf. Congar, op. tit., p. 26. 19 Congar, op. tit., p. 4. 20 Canon 948. 152 The Theology of the Lay Apostolate jurisdiction and order by divine institution. The layman does not possess these powers. He has not the competence of orders.21 In this connection Karl Rahner's opinion has caused some con- troversy. Holy Orders, he says are not necessary for the transmis- sion of every power of orders and jurisdiction. In those cases where it is not necessary function determines status. Hence, if someone legitimately and habitually possess a liturgical or juridic power sur- passing the fundamental rights of baptism he is no longer lay in the proper sense of the term. He is acting in a manner beyond that which is specifically lay.22 The idea is attractive but it is not without its difficulties. Pius XII in his Allocution to the Second World Congress of the Lay Apostolate apparently had this opinion in mind when he said that the layman remains a layman even when associated with the hier- archy by a special mission. The layman's acceptance of a particular mission, of a mandate of the Hierarchy, although it associates him in a closer manner with the spiritual conquest of the world which the Church is conducting under the direction of her pastors, does not suffice to make him a member of the Hierarchy, to give him powers of Orders and jurisdiction that remain closely bound to the recep- tion of the Sacrament of Orders in its various degrees.23 Perhaps a distinction of Journet can explain the matter. The laity, he says, can exercise certain lesser functions pertaining to worship 24 and jurisdiction ; but they do so not as subjects in whom the powers themselves are found but as vehicles of hierarchical motions.25 Hence, it seems that a layman remains a layman until the Church declares otherwise in its law by the actual granting of 21 Congar, op. cit., pp. 4-7. 22 Rahner, art. cit., p. S. 23 Pius XII, Allocution to Second World Congress of the Lay Apostolate, Apostolic Perspectives, 2:3&4 (Fall-Winter, 19S7), S. 24 He is obviously prescinding from the participation in the Mass and Sacraments pertaining to the baptized and confirmed, precisely as baptized and confirmed. 25 Charles Journet, L'église du Verbe Incarné, I: Bruges, Desclée de Brouwer, 1951, p. 1016. 153 The Theology of the Lay Apostolate some power. What the person is doing himself is not sufficient to transfer him from the lay state. As Serrand says: a cleric is one to whom the actual law gives a part of the powers of order and juris- diction. A lay person is one to whom the law refuses a share in the powers.26 F. DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE LAITY AND RELIGIOUS Different from both the clergy and laity are the monks who are identified by their state in life—living apart from the world. This distinction is, likewise, recognized by the Code.27 However, in the course of Church history, priests and monks tended to become iden- tified, particularly in the West. But, in reality, there is a sharp dis- tinction between the two.28 Religious are differentiated from the laity not on the basis of differing power but on the basis of two different states in life. The theological significance of the religious life is its making visible in the world the transcendent origin and destiny of the Church.29 The layman remains in the world and is concerned with the things of the world. The religious leaves the world to be concerned as far as possible only with the things of God. G. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LAY STATE Congar does not give an exact definition of the lay state but he develops two approximations which are the characteristics of the lay state. First of all, the laity proceed to their final end through involvement in the things of the world. In the words of Congar, "Lay people are Christians in the world, there to do God's work in 26 A. Z. Serrand, "Apostolat des laics," La Vie Intellectuelle, May, 1955, p. 107. This article is in reference to some criticism of Rahner and his re- sponse in Der grosse entschluss, May, June, July-August, 1954, and January, 1955. Cf. the translator's footnote to Rahner, art. tit., p. 3. 27 Can. 491. 28 Congar, op. tit., p. 407. Journet defines the clericature as a state of life, which it is in a sense, but he points out in a footnote that a cleric is funda- mentally one who has a function in the Church and because of his hierarchical function he has obligations which constitute for him a state of life. Journet, op. tit., p. 1006. 29 Rahner, art. tit., p. 7. 154 The Theology of the Lay Apostolate so far as it must be done in and through the work of the world " 80 As a part of God's plan the laity glorify God without disengaging themselves from the world. The second characteristic of the lay state, according to Congar, is that for the layman the things of this world have an interest and value in themselves where- as for the cleric and monk they are interesting only because of their relationship to God. The difference is somewhat the same as that between a theologian and a philosopher. This, of course, intro- duces the whole question of temporal values and Christian human- ism, a thorny area where it is difficult to be precise. Though I do not think purely temporal activity can be considered a part of the apostolate as such, except indirectly, to understand what a layman is theologically one should be aware of the connection between the layman and the world. II. WHAT IS THE APOSTOLATE? After the preceding considerations of the theological status of the layman it remains to treat of the apostolate. I am inclined to concur with Father Ferree in his regret that not much has been written on the theological notion of the apostolate.81 The word is generic being applied to the hierarchy and laity in analogous senses. It derives from the Greek dirooxoXeiv, to send forth. Hence an apostle is one sent forth and the apostolate is the mission he is sent forth to accomplish. The Church is sent forth to continue the mission of Christ. "As the Father has sent me, I also send you." 82 This mission of Christ which sprang from the love of the Father was accomplished through the Incarnation and Redemption. The Church communicates the 30 Congar, op. cit., p. 16. Unfortunately, at the time of writing I was un- able to see Paul Vanier, S.J., "Vocation chrétienne et mission du laïcat," Relations, 11 (1951), pp. 119-122. (Virginité et mariage"), 200-203 ("Ré- demption et action temporelle"), 227-231 ("Le sens rédemteur et de l'action temporelle"). A note in Theology Digest I (1953), p. 12, refers to these articles and says his view is quite different from Congar^. 31W. Ferree, Introduction to Catholic Action, p. 40, as cited in Hesburgh, op. cit., p. 21. 82 John 20, 21.