On Jan. 11, Pope Francis released Spiritus domini, an apostolic letter issued motu proprio (meaning “on his own impulse”), ordering a change to the Code of Canon Law to allow women to be formally instituted to the ministries of lector and acolyte.
(Vatican News) With a Motu proprio released on Monday, Pope Francis established that from now on the ministries of Lector and Acolyte are to be open to women, in a stable and institutionalized form through a specific mandate.
There is nothing new about women proclaiming the Word of God during liturgical celebrations or carrying out a service at the altar as altar servers or as Eucharistic ministers. In many communities throughout the world these practices are already authorized by local bishops.
However, up to this point, this has occurred without a true and proper institutional mandate, as an exception to what Pope St. Paul VI had established when, in 1972, even while abolishing the so-called “minor orders”, he decided to maintain that access to these ministries be granted only to men because both were considered to be preparatory to the eventual admission to holy orders.
Now, in the wake of the discernment which has emerged from the last Synods of Bishops, Pope Francis wanted to formalize and institutionalize the presence of women at the altar.
Read the full article from Vatican News
Read the apostolic letter, Spiritus domini (Vatican website)
About the photo: A lector delivers a reading during Mass at a church in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Aug. 20, 2014. Pope Francis ordered a change to the Code of Canon Law so that women may be formally instituted as lectors and acolytes. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
