For all men

This month I want to take a look at the conciliar decree on the apostolate and life of the laity in the Church, Apostolicam Actuositatem. It is a decree that has had a great role in the evolution of the Church in after the Council, not so much for his directives, which in our day always have a short duration, as the world situation continually surpasses any effort at updating, but for his gaze on the Catholic laity.

The largest and most basic part of the Church was kept in a state of great passivity: certainly its role in the sanctification of the Church, and therefore in its main role, has always been very great, but also little recognized. Very few were canonized, except the martyrs, after the Council of Trent. But the Council wanted to underline the great importance of the laity also in the apostolate, in the mission and this later also gave fruits of participation in the government of the Church itself. In recent years all this has developed greatly and we hope it continues to grow.

The clergy, in the centuries after Trent, took over many sectors that could have belonged to the laity, and this in the long run caused a lot of damage, which appears more and more evident and burdens the specific mission of the Church which is the missionary announcement, inside and outside it, of the Word and the sanctification of the Christian people through the sacraments, example and service.

The first thing that is underlined is that: «Sacred Scripture itself abundantly shows how spontaneous and fruitful this activity was in the early days of the Church». It is therefore not an achievement due to the progress of the especially Western mentality, but something constitutive in the Church, even if other reasons have contributed to the awareness of this fact, such as today's circumstances which absolutely require their apostolate to be more intense. and more extensive due both to the constant increase in the population, to scientific and technical progress, and because human relations are becoming increasingly closer and not only have they extraordinarily expanded the field of the apostolate of the laity, largely accessible only to them , but they have also given rise to new problems, which require their prompt commitment and zeal.

But, let's make it clear, it is not the need that imposes an exception, but the very constitution of the Church and we must all remember this, lay people and clergy of all social classes. We must pay attention to the very strong words with which the bishops guided the renewal of the Church. «This is the aim of the Church: with the spread of the kingdom of Christ throughout the earth to the glory of God the Father, to make all men participate in the salvation brought about by redemption». «Just as in the structure of a living body there is no member who behaves in a completely passive manner, but together with life also participates in its activity, so in the body of Christ, which is the Church, the whole body... contributes to growth of the body itself. Indeed, in this body there is such harmony and compactness of the members that a member who does not work for the growth of the body according to his own energy should be considered useless for the Church and for himself."

The laity therefore have a duty to commit themselves, even by reclaiming their right-duty, in ensuring that the word of the Church is increasingly audible and understandable and stimulates Christians to serve the Word and the world. This derives from the fact that with baptism, confirmed in confirmation, they form a holy nation and have a royal priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices through every activity and bear witness to Christ everywhere. The Holy Spirit gives them charity aimed at the good of men throughout the world and procures the glory of God with the advent of his kingdom and eternal life for all men.


Cesare Falletti
NP June / July 2023