Munich, 30 March, 2023 / 8:14 pm (ACI Africa).
The Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has intervened against the implementation of resolutions of the German Synodal Way that demand lay people should be able to regularly baptize and preach the homily at Holy Mass in churches across Germany.
In a letter to the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference President dated March 29, Arthur Cardinal Roche, said neither was possible – despite at least one German diocese already announcing both practices.
The written intervention by the Vatican’s Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments was addressed to Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, reported CNA Deutsch, which has obtained a copy of the document.
Apart from covering the question of homilies and baptisms by lay people, the seven-page letter also reminded the German bishops that liturgical translations must be confirmed and approved by the Vatican.