LAITY

The competencies of the Dicastery include inspiring and encouraging the promotion of the lay faithful’s vocation and mission in the Church and in the world, be it individually, or as members of associations, movements or communities. The Dicastery also promotes study that contributes to furthering doctrinal reflection on themes and questions concerning the lay faithful.

The Dicastery promotes the lay faithful’s awareness of their ‘corresponsibility’ for the life and mission of the Church, rooted in the sacrament of baptism, and exercised according to the many charisms received for its edification, with a particular attention to their specific mission of shaping and perfecting the various spheres of life in society. It also promotes initiatives concerning the lay faithful’s activity in evangelising the various sectors of life in society, and their participation in catechetical instruction, liturgical and sacramental life, missionary action, and works of mercy, charity and social assistance. The Dicastery supports and encourages the active and responsible participation of the lay faithful in the consultative organs of the Universal Church and of Particular Churches, and evaluates requests made to the Apostolic See, by Bishops’ Conferences, for the institution of new ministries and ecclesiastical offices, according to the needs of Particular Churches. The Dicastery also erects international aggregations of the faithful and ecclesial movements, or grants them decrees of recognition, and examines administrative recourses relating to its competencies.