Vatican rejects proposal to allow sermons by Catholic women

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY, ‌June 23 (Reuters) - ​The ​Vatican on Tuesday reaffirmed a long-standing rule that only an ordained priest or deacon can give a ‌sermon at a Catholic mass, rejecting a request from ⁠German bishops to broaden the practice and allow sermons by women ‌or other laypeople.

"The current discipline ‌cannot be dispensed from," said a release from the Vatican's Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the ​Sacraments, which oversees worship by the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

Many Catholic masses include a sermon, where a priest or ⁠a deacon offers a reflection on the day's Bible readings. The German bishops' conference ​had asked earlier this year for permission for laypeople to also offer sermons.

The German request echoed ​sentiments from many bishops in the ‌U.S. and other European countries, who say many laypeople are as capable of preaching as priests. ⁠They often cite a desire to hear sermons from women, who cannot be ordained in the Catholic Church.

The Vatican did not provide ⁠its full response to the German bishops, only a press release summarizing ​its decision.

"The reservation of the homily to a priest or deacons is not a merely disciplinary norm but derives from the very nature ‌of the liturgy," the release said.

The Catholic Church teaches that during a mass, a priest acts "in ‌persona Christi" (in the person of Christ), and it is God ⁠who acts through the ‌priest during worship.

Laypeople are ​allowed to give sermons at prayer services outside of a mass.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, editing by Milla ‌Nissi-Prussak)

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