There is no so-called “Catholic solution”. It is up to pastors to enunciate the general principles of the social doctrine of the Church, and the laity to put these principles into practice in concrete situations.

Newsroom (28/05/2023 09:00, Gaudium Press) If he were alive today, living in Brazil, what would St. Thomas Aquinas write in the Summa Theologica about the laity? He could possibly write something like the text below, affected, of course, with a peculiar genius, which would be impossible to imitate:

Question 1: “The Laity of Brazil” (in an article)

Article 1: Should the laity participate in politics in their capacity as members of the Catholic Church?

Regarding this article, this is how it goes forward: it seems that the laity “must NOT” act in politics in the condition of members of the Church.

1) In effect, the Brazilian population (Catholics and non-catholics) sees priests and bishops, and not the laity, as members of the Church. Thus, ordained men enjoy due respect to teach with authority the principles of social doctrine.

2) Moreover, the laity, although legitimate members of the Church through baptism, do not have sufficient knowledge of Christian doctrine, much less of social ethics. Thus, it would be unwise for them to act in politics as representatives of the Church, arriving at disparate methods of solving the problems of society, and thus compromising the only moral truth presented by the Church, which is the inconspicuous robe of Jesus Christ.

3) Furthermore, St. Joseph Mary Escriva, in The Way, Point 61, gives us the following lesson: “When a layman sets himself up as a moral teacher, he often makes a mistake. Laymen can only be disciples”.

IN A CONTRARY SENTENCE, precepts Canon 225, § 2 of the Canonical Code of the Latin rite: “They [the laity] also have the special duty, each according to his or her own condition, to animate and perfect with the evangelical spirit the order of temporal realities, and thus to bear witness to Christ, especially in the management of these realities and in the exercise of secular activities.”

ANSWER. The laity are called to the same end as clerics, namely, the enjoyment of the inheritance of the sons of God. However, the laity, by their condition, pursue this goal in the march of the world, especially in the various forms of political action, existing in the world as the religious does is in the cloister.

In the light of the Second Vatican Council, the laity should not be considered as a “residual state“, constituted by those who have not received the Sacrament of Orders or have not been called to consecrated life.

The laity do not need a mandate, nor an order to carry out their evangelizing mission. The sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation grant them the office of authentic evangelizers.

Regarding item no. 1, therefore, it must be said that Brazilian society would give prestige to the laity, or ordinary Catholics, to the extent that they assume the role of Christians as deputies, senators, mayors, judges, public prosecutors, lawyers, etc., and never perpetuating a dichotomy between faith and public life.

With regard to item no. 2, it must be stated that Document no. 62 of the Episcopal Conference (CNBB) certainly makes an effort to stimulate the laity to live the apostolate, with emphasis on the secular, especially in the political area, urging them to doctrinal formation for the correct performance of the mission of solving the enormous problems of their country, with the spirit of the Gospel. It must also be stressed that there is no such thing as a “Catholic solution”, since it is up to pastors to enunciate the general principles of the Church’s social doctrine and it is up to the laity to put these principles into practice in concrete situations.

In short, the laity do not act as delegates or ‘longa manus’ of the hierarchy; they act on their own behalf, however, as members of the Church.

With regard to No. 3, in a homily given in Spain on October 8, 1967, St. Josemaría Escrivá, addressing the laity, taught the following: “I wanted to keep them away from the temptation, so frequent then as now, of leading a double life: the interior life, and the life of a relationship with God, on the one hand; and, on the other hand, a different and separate family, professional and social life, full of small earthly realities … We cannot be schizophrenic if we want to be Christians. There is only one life, made of flesh and spirit, and this life must be, in soul and body, holy and full of God. This invisible God we find in visible and material things.”

Edson Luiz Sampel

Professor of the Higher Institute of Canon Law of Londrina.

Compiled by Sandra Chisholm