Archbishop J. Michael Miller says the archdiocese is looking at instituting lay men and women lectors and acolytes in light of Pope Francis’ updating of canon law to allow baptized women to be instituted in those roles.

It’s too early to know how the changes will be implemented in the archdiocese, and they won’t have any immediate effects, the archbishop told The B.C. Catholic.

In a Jan. 10 apostolic letter, titled Spiritus domini, the Pope wrote, “these lay ministries, since they are based on the Sacrament of Baptism, may be entrusted to all suitable faithful, whether male or female.”

How all of this will happen, said Archbishop Miller, still has to be determined.

While the announcement was met with a lot of buzz about roles of women in the Church, its effects in the Archdiocese of Vancouver will not be immediately apparent.

Women already read at Mass, distribute Communion, and serve in parishes, as canon law permits lay people to receive the temporary assignment of lector and acolyte in liturgical activities.

The updated canon says, “Laity who possess the age and qualifications established by decree of the conference of bishops can be admitted on a stable basis through the prescribed liturgical rite to the ministries of lector and acolyte.”

While it is traditional Church teaching that those serving as lectors and acolytes – the official term for someone designated to serve the priest at Mass – are formally instituted, it hasn’t been the custom in the archdiocese to do so. 

According to Archbishop Miller, there is only one person in the archdiocese instituted as a lector and acolyte and serving in those ministries right now: a man who did not proceed to ordination.

“We have not instituted men in these ministries, unless they were on track for ordination,” he told The B.C. Catholic.

Women, who cannot be ordained Catholic priests, were naturally excluded from this.

“Now, we will proceed – at some future date – to institute both lay men (whom we could previously but did not) and lay women (whom previously we could not) in the ministries of lector and acolyte.”

How all of this will happen, said Archbishop Miller, still has to be determined.

Pope Francis’ letter won’t change the day-to-day running of parishes, but the decision is worth noting as it marks a shift from Pope Paul VI’s Ministeria quaedam, which stated that the ministries of lector and acolyte are reserved for men.

In that 1972 document Pope Paul VI did away with minor orders and the subdiaconate and established the ministries of lector and acolyte, which until then had been reserved for those preparing for the priesthood.

“Those which until now were called minor orders for the future will have to be called ‘ministries.’ The ministries can also be entrusted to the laity, so that they are no longer considered as reserved for candidates to the sacrament of Holy Orders,” he said.

“There are two ministries that must be maintained throughout the Latin Church, adapted to today’s needs, that of the lector and that of the acolyte.”

He went on to describe the duties of the lector (reading Scripture at Mass) and acolyte (helping deacons and priests in liturgical roles, distributing Communion, and in extraordinary circumstances exposing the Holy Eucharist for adoration) and said for someone to be admitted to these ministries, they must present their request to the local bishop, be of a suitable age, and have a “firm will to faithfully serve God and the Christian people.”

He said only men could be instituted as lectors and acolytes.

In his recent apostolic letter Pope Francis acknowledged that Ministeria quaedam opened these ministries only to “suitable male faithful,” but added, effectively, that times have changed.

“A doctrinal development has taken place in recent years which has highlighted how certain ministries instituted by the Church are based on the common condition of being baptized and the regal priesthood received in the Sacrament of Baptism; they are essentially distinct from the ordained ministry received in the Sacrament of Orders,” he said.

“A consolidated practice in the Latin Church has also confirmed, in fact, that these lay ministries, since they are based on the Sacrament of Baptism, may be entrusted to all suitable faithful, whether male or female.”

Opening the door for female lectors and acolytes has been seen by some as a step toward women priests, but Pope Francis and Pope Paul VI did not leave room for that interpretation when they made clear distinctions between these ministries and Holy Orders.

It’s not yet clear if institution in these ministries will include training or a formal ceremony. Ten years ago Pope Benedict XVI did highlight the importance of preparing people who read at Mass.

“While the Gospel is proclaimed by a priest or deacon, in the Latin tradition the first and second readings are proclaimed by an appointed reader, whether a man or a woman,” he wrote in Verbum domini.

“I would like to echo the Synod Fathers who once more stressed the need for the adequate training of those who exercise the munus of reader in liturgical celebrations, and particularly those who exercise the ministry of Reader, which in the Latin rite is, as such, a lay ministry. All those entrusted with this office, even those not instituted in the ministry of reader, should be truly suitable and carefully trained. This training should be biblical and liturgical, as well as technical.”