LAITY
“Enlivening and encouraging the promotion of the vocation and mission of the lay faithful in the Church and in the world” (Praedicate Evangelium, Art. 129) is an important part of the everyday work carried out by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. The lay faithful, as individuals, married or not, and as members belonging to associations, ecclesial movements, new communities, are the largest component of God's holy faithful people. The Holy Father's attention is directed to them through the work and pastoral care of this Dicastery, to encourage their participation and co-responsibility in the life and mission of the Church.
To this end, the Dicastery collaborates with the various lay ecclesial realities so that the lay faithful may share their faith experiences in social realities as well as their own secular expertise in the pastoral care and governance of the Church. Furthermore, it is the Dicastery's responsibility, in agreement with the other Dicasteries of the Roman Curia involved, to evaluate and approve the proposals of the Bishops' Conferences concerning the establishment of new ministries and ecclesiastical offices to be entrusted to the laity, according to the needs of the particular Churches. Through its work, the Dicastery expresses the Church's special solicitude for the youth; it accompanies the life and development of aggregations of the faithful and ecclesial movements; it deals with any hierarchical appeals relating to the associative life and the apostolate of the laity; and it strives to deepen reflection on the relationship between men and women in their respective specificity, reciprocity, complementarity and equal dignity.
News
WYD
Keeping the great event celebrated in Rio de Janeiro, in 2013, alive in the memory young people around the world, accompanying them step by step to the next in Panama
Since 2014, the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro commemorates the anniversary of 2013 WYD celebrated in Rio, with the aim of encouraging the participation of young people in the next edition of WYD. This ...
Lay Saints
The Diocese of Rome has launched the process with the Edict: “Her oblation is a beacon of hope”
“We think of the saints as heroes, as people capable of doing special things. No, it’s not like that; the experience of God is never taken for granted.” These are the words of Father Vito D’Amato, ...
Local Churches
A Document from the Australian Bishops’ Conference on the the Ministry of the Laity
“Faithful Stewards of God’s Grace” is the title of the document on the Lay Pastoral Ministry in the Church in Australia, published by the National Conference on the New Evangelization, Proclaim ...
Magisterium of Pope Francis on the Lay Faithful