The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1957-12-20
Layman: King and Priest
Laity Has Great Power
In Catholic Church
BY Erik Won Kuehnelf.Leddihn

BY Erik Won KuehneltLeddihn
"You see," the other day a Presbyterian minister
told me, with us it's different. Unlike the Catholics, we
believe in the priesthood of all believers, an idea totally
'sWho told you that?"1 inquired with equal polite
ness. "Our first Holy Father, st. Peter, according to his
Epistle, insisted that all believers are called to a royal
priesthood and st. Thomas has said about the Chris
tians that they all are priests and kings. To my know
ledge no Catholic has ever dared to eliminate min! the words
works carried an elimination of the. lines I've quoted"
you want TO fell me that the Catholics accept no
difference between Iaify and prests?" the minister qves-
Toned me with narrowing eyes.
"There is a general priesthood of all believers, be-
cause we all are being called to the realization, OF the
Kingdom of God. Naturally, between the general priest
hood of all believers and the special priesthood OF the
priest and the even fuller priesthood of the bishops as
the successors Of the Apostles, there is a difference
though, to my mind only a gradual one. If | am not en-
tirely mistaken, even the Presbyterians reserve certain
functions to their ministers, which they not willingly
grant to their laity?'
nm afraid these are Just words" the minister in
terieeted. "A Catholic Iayman or laywoman--they are
Just nobodies. They have no functions in their Church
at all, no rights, no status. All they can do is to accept
meekly the Saeraments from the hands Of their clergy"
II thoroughly disagree. Laity and clergy, they all
are Members of the Mystical Body and they merely diff
fer in their function down here on earth. We are willing
to say that a small child might 60 straight to Heaven
while a high prelate could possibly end in He'll"
But the function is all which matters" my friend
said with emphasis.
"The active functions of a Catholic layman are Of
no account -"
u Lullh u i WOulO oy tlldI IHC SdtllUAS
has a higher concept of its laity than the Presbyterians
of their ministers"
,..., Let :. NAL" make ; ;,r, ,s' .; e III The i e i; .s:d ' s.' :Gm,I g,iy,;
the Sacrament of Baptism. Secondly, he innparfs the
Sacrament Of Marriage"
"Are you Ser1OuS?"
"Of course I'm serious. The Catholic priest merely
assists at the marriage ceremony. The expression they
were married by a priest is wholly wrong. According to
Marriage because it is not a Sacrament at all. Finally,
there is Communion, which in conformity with your
creed is merely a Memorial Supper: Any layman can eat
bread and drink Wine-or serve it to ~otherS-piouSly re-
membering the original Eucharist. In French churches
they distribute blessed bread to all those who have not
gone to the Lords table.
"A Iayman also has the power to bless. Thus It
would be entirely lawful to a father Of . family some
where in a country on the wrong side OF fhs Iron Cur.
and wine in a piovs eonmemoraton Of the Last Sup
per. II would not be q Sacrament, but neither IS your
Mem sSi supper, from rom, our point Of ~ view y r...o,,, ,,v-
man can do what we Presbyterian ministers do. Where
is his Sure, greater spiritual pp1a mission sao .,. J. oro
even beyond the scope Of this earth. Through his pray
ers he can even affect the fate of those who died. He
is supposed to have a free will, which to you, as a human
8That is all very nice" the minister admitted. "But
will your ignorant Catholic layman realize that he has
all those wonderful rights and privileges? He knows
who alone is empowered to celebrate the Mass
SIN which the layman participates, in which he
shares aYe And the the ed tn.nss We cat anaie r ne hos f the dis snty'' Of
his place; he knows his faith better than the average
educated Presbyterian. Admittedly, only a minority OF
Catholic laymen have read the Summa, or the writings OF
the Church Fathers, but pray, how many Presbyterians
have read either Calvin, John Knox, or Karl Barth?"
Your pet weekly, the CHRISTIAN CENTURY. has
pointed out that Protesianis in this country have made
great sacrifices to democracy by not establishing . sys-
fem Of religious schools. This eminent material sacrifice
we were in good conscience not able to produce. We
sqvandered away our money for Catholic schools, high
schools, colleges, and universities. Why? Because we con-
slider that there should not be the huge difference be-
tween the religious knowledge Of Iaify and clergy as It
exists among Professionals.
AS a result we have a respectable number OF Catho-
lie lay theologians-men Like Pieper, Maritain, ellison,
Frank Sheed, Bernhart, Peterson, Kolnai. Can you say
the same thing of your own denominations"