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German Bishop: Laypeople Preach in My Diocese — and I Won’t Sanction Them

The Vatican's reasoning for the ban on lay preaching is "not entirely consistent," Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz told Katholisch.de on August 11.

"The letter from the Prefect for Liturgy states that only the priest celebrating Mass may preach. But taken to its logical conclusion, that would mean a concelebrating priest or an assisting deacon shouldn't be allowed to preach either."

Lay Preaching Is No Problem

In the Diocese of Mainz, occasional lay preaching has become an established practice and Bishop Kohlgraf has no intention of changing that.

In some parishes, "it is customary for laypeople to preach," he said. "If I hear about it, I won't take disciplinary action or impose canonical sanctions."

"Denunciations" Are a Problem

Bishop Kohlgraf is concerned that the directive from Rome could encourage "denunciations": "There are people who report liturgical violations straight to the bishop and write directly to me. That happened before too - individual people would complain to me - but now they’re demanding that I intervene. Some even write to the nuncio or directly to Rome."

The bishop responds politely and calmly, forwarding the complaint to the respective parish priest.

Bishop Kohlgraf would welcome an indult formally permitting lay preaching.

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Daniel M.

"The letter from the Prefect for Liturgy states that only the priest celebrating Mass may preach. But taken to its logical conclusion, that would mean a concelebrating priest or an assisting deacon shouldn't be allowed to preach either."
Even a blind squirrel will find a nut every once in a while. So the Prefect for Liturgy is careless to the point of being goofy. But what self-respecting Catholic, much less a bishop, can use this for an excuse?

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Wilma Lopez shares this

Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz criticised the Vatican’s June 17 ruling upholding the ban on lay preaching at Mass as “not entirely coherent”. He noted that lay preaching has become common practice and said he would neither intervene nor impose canonical sanctions.

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Paolo F

In the 'after-church' sanctions are reserved for those Catholics who respect tradition and truth. One must be blind not to see the abyss that we are heading to.

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Father Karl A Claver

Talk about Bozo the Clown....Here he is.

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