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Apostolic Letter given Motu Proprio:
On first tonsure, minor orders, and the subdiaconate
Certain ministries were established by the Church even
in the most ancient times for the purpose of suitably
giving worship to God and for offering service to the
people of God according to their needs. By these
ministries, the offices to be carried out in the liturgy
and the practice of charity, deemed suitable to varying
circumstances, were entrusted to the faithful. The
conferring of these functions often took place by a
special rite, in which, after God's blessing had been
implored, a Christian was established in a special class
or rank for the fulfillment of some ecclesiastical
function.
Some of these functions, which were more closely
connected with the liturgical celebration, slowly came to
be considered as a training in preparation for the
reception of sacred orders. As a result, the offices of
porter, reader, exorcist, and acolyte were called minor
orders in the Latin Church in relation to the
subdiaconate, diaconate, and priesthood, which were
called major orders. Generally, though not every where,
these minor orders were reserved to those who received
them as steps toward the priesthood.
Nevertheless, since the minor orders have not always
been the same and many functions connected with them, as
at present, have also been exercised by the laity, it
seems fitting to reexamine this practice and to adapt it
to contemporary needs. What is obsolete in these offices
will thus be removed and what is useful retained; also
anything new that is needed will be introduced and at the
same time the requirements for candidates for holy orders
will be established.
While Vatican Council II was in preparation, many
bishops of the Church requested that the minor orders and
subdiaconate be revised. Although the Council did not
decree anything concerning this for the Latin Church, it
stated certain principles for resolving the issue. There
is no doubt that the norms laid down by the Council
regarding the general and orderly reform of the liturgy
[1] also include those areas that concern ministries in
the liturgical assembly, so that the very arrangement of
the celebration itself makes the Church stand out as
being formed in a structure of different orders and
ministries. [2] Thus Vatican Council II decreed that "in
liturgical celebrations each one, minister or layperson,
who has an office to perform, should do all of, but only,
those parts which pertain to that office by the nature of
the rite and the principles of liturgy." [3]
With this assertion is closely connected what was
written a little earlier in the same Constitution: "The
Church earnestly desires that all the faithful be led to
that full, conscious, and active participation in
liturgical celebrations called for by the very nature of
the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people
as 'a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
purchased people' (I Pt 2:9; see 2:4-5) is their right
and duty by reason of their baptism. In the reform and
promotion of the liturgy, this full and active
participation by all the people is the aim to be
considered before all else. For it is the primary and
indispensable source from which the faithful are to
derive the true Christian spirit and therefore pastors
must zealously strive in all their pastoral work to
achieve such participation by means of the necessary
instruction." [4]
Among the particular offices to be preserved and
adapted to contemporary needs are those that are in a
special way more closely connected with the ministries of
the word and of the altar and that in the Latin Church
are called the offices of reader and acolyte
and the subdiaconate. It is fitting to preserve and adapt
these in such a way, that from this time on there will be
two offices: that of reader and that of acolyte, which
will include the functions of the subdiaconate.
In addition to the offices universal in the Latin
Church, the conferences of bishops may request others of
the Apostolic See, if they judge the establishment of
such offices in their region to be necessary or very
useful because of special reasons. To these belong, for
example, the ministries of porter, exorcist, catechist,
[5] as well as others to be conferred on those who are
dedicated to works of charity, where this ministry had
not been assigned to deacons.
It is in accordance with the reality itself and with
the contemporary outlook that the above-mentioned
ministries should no longer be called minor orders; their
conferral will not be called ordination, but
institution. Only those who have received the
diaconate, however, will be clerics in the true sense and
will be so regarded. This arrangement will bring out more
clearly the distinction between clergy and laity, between
what is proper and reserved to the clergy and what can be
entrusted to the laity. This will also bring out more
clearly that mutuality by which "the universal priesthood
of believers and the ministerial or hierarchic
priesthood, though they differ from one another in
essence and not only in degree, are nonetheless
interrelated: each of these in its own special way is a
sharing in the one priesthood of Christ." [6]
After weighing every aspect of the question, seeking
the opinion of experts, consulting with the conferences
of bishops and taking their views into account, and after
taking counsel with our esteemed brothers who are members
of the congregations competent in this matter, by our
apostolic authority we enact the following norms,
amending-if and in so far as is necessary-provisions of
the Codex Iuris Canonici now in force, and we
promulgate them through this Motu Proprio.
- First tonsure is no longer conferred; entrance
into the clerical state is joined to the diaconate.
- What up to now were called minor orders are
henceforth to be called ministries.
- Ministries may be assigned to lay Christians;
hence they are no longer to be considered as
reserved to candidates for the sacrament of orders.
- Two ministries, adapted to present-day needs,
are to be preserved in the whole Latin Church,
namely, those of reader and acolyte. The functions
heretofore assigned to the subdeacon are entrusted
to the reader and the acolyte; consequently, the
major order of subdiaconate no longer exists in the
Latin Church. There is, however, no reason why the
acolyte cannot be called a subdeacon in some places,
at the discretion of the conference of bishops.
- The reader is appointed for a function proper to
him, that of reading the word of God in the
liturgical assembly. Accordingly, he is to proclaim
the readings from sacred Scripture, except for the
gospel in the Mass and other sacred celebrations; he
is to recite the psalm between the readings when
there is no psalmist; he is to present the
intentions for the general intercessions in the
absence of a deacon or cantor; he is to direct the
singing and the participation by the faithful; he is
to instruct the faithful for the worthy reception of
the sacraments. He may also, insofar as may be
necessary, take care of preparing other faithful who
are appointed on a temporary basis to read the
Scriptures in liturgical celebrations. That he may
more fittingly and perfectly fulfill these
functions, he is to meditate assiduously on sacred
Scripture.
Aware of the office he has undertaken, the reader
is to make every effort and employ suitable means to
acquire that increasingly warm and living love [7]
and knowledge of Scripture that will make him a more
perfect disciple of the Lord.
- The acolyte is appointed in order to aid the
deacon and to minister to the priest. It is his duty
therefore to attend to the service of the altar and
to assist the deacon and the priest in liturgical
celebrations, especially in the celebration of Mass;
he is also to distribute communion as a special
minister when the ministers spoken of in the
Codex Iuris Canonici can. 845 are not available
or are prevented by ill health, age, or another
pastoral ministry from performing this function, or
when the number of communicants is so great that the
celebration of Mass would be unduly prolonged. In
the same extraordinary circumstances an acolyte may
be entrusted with publicly exposing the blessed
sacrament for adoration by the faithful and
afterward replacing it, but not with blessing the
people. He may also, to the extent needed, take care
of instructing other faithful who on a temporary
basis are appointed to assist the priest or deacon
in liturgical celebrations by carrying the missal,
cross, candles, etc., or by performing other such
duties. He will perform these functions more
worthily if he participates in the holy eucharist
with increasingly fervent devotion, receives
nourishment from it, and deepens his knowledge about
it.
As one set aside in a special way for the service
of the altar, the acolyte should learn all matters
concerning public divine worship and strive to grasp
their inner spiritual meaning: in that way he will
be able each day to offer himself entirely to God,
be an example to all by his gravity and reverence in
church, and have a sincere love for the Mystical
Body of Christ, the people of God, especially for
the weak and the sick.
- In accordance with the ancient tradition of the
Church, institution to the ministries of reader and
acolyte is reserved to men.
- The following are requirements for admission to
the ministries:
- the presentation of a petition
that has been freely made out and signed by the
aspirant to the Ordinary (the bishop and, in
clerical institutes, the major superior) who
has the right to accept the petition;
- a suitable age and special qualities to be
determined by the conference of bishops;
- a firm will to give faithful service to God
and the Christian people.
- The ministries are conferred by the Ordinary
(the bishop and, in clerical institutes, the major
superior) through the liturgical rite De
institutione lectoris and De institutione
acolythi as revised by the Apostolic See.
- An interval, determined by the Holy See or the
conferences of bishops, shall be observed between
the conferring of the ministries of reader and
acolyte whenever more than one ministry is conferred
on the same person.
- Unless they have already done so, candidates for
ordination as deacons and priests are to receive the
ministries of reader and acolyte and are to exercise
them for a suitable time, in order to be better
disposed for the future service of the word and of
the altar. Dispensation from receiving these
ministries on the part of such candidates is
reserved to the Holy See.
- The conferring of ministries does not bring with
it the right to support or remuneration from the
Church.
- The rite of institution of readers and acolytes
will soon be published by the competent department
of the Roman Curia.
The effective date of these norms is 1 January 1973.
We command as established and confirmed whatever this
Motu Proprio has decreed, all things to the contrary
notwithstanding.
Given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, on 15 August 1972,
the Solemnity of the Assumption, the tenth year of our
pontification.
Endnotes:
1. See Sacrosanctum Concilium art.
62; see also art. 21
2. See GIRM no. 58
3. Sacrosanctum Concilium art. 28
4. Sacrosanctum Concilium art. 14
5. See AG no. 15: AAS 58 (1966) 965;
ConsDecrDecl 574; see also AG no. 17 [DOL 17 no. 249]
6. Lumen Gentium no. 10
7. See Sacrosanctum Concilium art.
24; Dei Verbum no. 25
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