Theologian calls U.S. bishops' lay ministry document best in field

Published: 2006-06-13

CLEVELAND (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops' 2005 statement on lay ecclesial ministry "is the most mature and coherent ecclesiastical document ever produced on a theology of ministry," theologian Richard R. Gaillardetz told the National Association for Lay Ministry at its annual convention in Cleveland. The theme of the June 1-4 meeting, "Co-Workers in the Vineyard," reflected the bishops' document, whose full title is "Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord." Gaillardetz, who is the Murray/Bacik professor of Catholic studies at the University of Toledo, Ohio, said one of the strengths of the bishops' statement "is the way in which it successfully integrates lay ecclesial ministry within a broader theology of church and ministry." He said the late Pope John Paul II did good separate documents on the theology of bishops, priests and laity, but "in no ecclesiastical document, papal or episcopal, has there been a successful theological integration of the various forms of ministry in the church. Until now."

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