What Is a Laity
What is a laity?
In religious organizations, the laity consists of all members who are not a part of the clergy, whether they are or are not members of religious institutes, for example a nun or lay brother.[1]
In Christian cultures, the term lay priest is sometimes used in the past to refer to a secular priest, a diocesan priest who is not a member of a religious institute. Terms such as lay priest, lay clergy and lay nun were also once used in Buddhist cultures to indicate ordained persons who continued to live in the wider community instead of retiring to a monastery.
In the context of specialized professions, the term lay is often used to refer to those who are not members of that profession.
The word lay derives from the Anglo-French lai (from Late Latin laicus, from the Greek λαϊκός, laikos, of the people, from λαός, laos, the people at large).
Roman Catholicism
Main article: Catholic Laity
The Second Vatican Council [1962–1965] devoted its decree on the apostolate of the laity Apostolicam actuositatem[4] and chapter IV of its dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium to the laity in a sense narrower than that which is normal in the Catholic Church. The normal definition of laity is that given in the Code of Canon Law: “ | By divine institution, there are among the Christian faithful in the Church sacred ministers who in law are also called clerics; the other members of the Christian faithful are called lay persons.There are members of the Christian faithful from both these groups who, through the profession of the evangelical counsels by means of vows or other sacred bonds recognized and sanctioned by the Church, are consecrated to God in their own special way and contribute to the salvific mission of the Church; although their state does not belong to the hierarchical structure of the Church, it nevertheless belongs to its life and holiness.[5] | ” |
The narrower sense in which the Second Vatican Council gave instruction concerning the laity is as
In religious organizations, the laity consists of all members who are not a part of the clergy, whether they are or are not members of religious institutes, for example a nun or lay brother.[1]
In Christian cultures, the term lay priest is sometimes used in the past to refer to a secular priest, a diocesan priest who is not a member of a religious institute. Terms such as lay priest, lay clergy and lay nun were also once used in Buddhist cultures to indicate ordained persons who continued to live in the wider community instead of retiring to a monastery.
In the context of specialized professions, the term lay is often used to refer to those who are not members of that profession.
The word lay derives from the Anglo-French lai (from Late Latin laicus, from the Greek λαϊκός, laikos, of the people, from λαός, laos, the people at large).
Roman Catholicism
Main article: Catholic Laity
The Second Vatican Council [1962–1965] devoted its decree on the apostolate of the laity Apostolicam actuositatem[4] and chapter IV of its dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium to the laity in a sense narrower than that which is normal in the Catholic Church. The normal definition of laity is that given in the Code of Canon Law: “ | By divine institution, there are among the Christian faithful in the Church sacred ministers who in law are also called clerics; the other members of the Christian faithful are called lay persons.There are members of the Christian faithful from both these groups who, through the profession of the evangelical counsels by means of vows or other sacred bonds recognized and sanctioned by the Church, are consecrated to God in their own special way and contribute to the salvific mission of the Church; although their state does not belong to the hierarchical structure of the Church, it nevertheless belongs to its life and holiness.[5] | ” |
The narrower sense in which the Second Vatican Council gave instruction concerning the laity is as