Franciscan laity in the mission of the Church - Carlo Dallari OFM

2. In accordance with the lay condition

a) Called to follow Christ "in the world"

Summary of meetings

Conference of General Assistants

Part-III

2. In accordance with the lay condition

Consecrated to Christ in order to live the Gospel according to the charism of St Francis, the Secular Franciscans recognize themselves as fully "Christian laity", whose ecclesial mission is to permeate all "mundane" realities with the gospel message.

a) Called to follow Christ "in the world"

"But among the lay faithful this one baptismal dignity takes on a manner of life which sets a person apart, without, however, bringing about a separation from the ministerial priesthood or from men and women religious. The Second Vatican Council has described this manner of life as the 'secular character': 'the secular character is properly and particularly that of the lay faithful.'" ( CL 15).

It is necessary at this point to penetrate more deeply into the theological meaning of the expression "secular character".

According to Christifideles laici, we must look for its meaning "in the light of God's plan of salvation and in the context of the mystery of the Church" ( Ibid. ), that is, within the Church's faith reflection. So, we must seek an answer from the doctrine of faith, more than from any other human discipline or science.

"Secular" derives from the Latin saeculum, meaning the age, the world, the human ambiance, the place in which human history happens (cf. GS 2); in the Christian doctrinal tradition, it is used in a variety of meanings.

A first conception of "world" is presented basically in a positive light: with the term "world", the cosmos of creation is indicated, good in itself, because created by God (cf. Gen 1); creation has an original dignity which is not lost even through the corruption consequent on man's sin; according to this usage, the "world" cannot be fled from, since it is the place where humanity lives until the end of the ages.

A second conception of "world" is presented in a prevalently negative light: with this term is indicated the human reality marked by the absence of God, of the obedience due to Him, and so sullied by evil and sin, the homeland of perverse man; the prevalence of this vision of the world has at times incited Christians to "flee the world" (in all its mundane reality or temporal commitment), seen as an insurmountable obstacle to the path of "return to God", and has driven them to a rigid asceticism and to a life of austere penance and contemplation in hermitages, in the desert, in monasteries or in convents.

A third conception has entered into the documents of the Church's teaching authority: the "world" is simply the historical reality of mankind, that vast complex of structures, activities, places and situations that people provide for themselves historically in order to organize their life, also prescinding from any vision of faith. The Church lives in this world, with these people and it has a precise responsibility towards them, because it is sent to carry the good news of salvation in Christ. It cannot exist without "this" world, because it is an integral part of it, but at the same time it does not identify with it (cf. Jn 17, 16), in the same way in which the leaven (that has no value by itself) does not identify with the dough.... All human reality, in which and for which the Church must be the sign of the presence of the Kingdom of God and an instrument at its service, is marked by the mysterious work of God, who wants to bring man, and with him all creation, to reconciliation and communion ( Ibid. ).

According to this vision, "Pope Paul VI said the Church 'has an authentic secular dimension, inherent in her inner nature and mission, which is deeply rooted in the mystery of the Word Incarnate, and which is realized in different forms through her members'" ( CL 15). Christ has assumed our human nature and condition: nothing of what is human is foreign to the community of those who belong to him, nor should it be; which is why secularity involves all the members of the Church, whether they be laity, clerics or religious, because no one can prescind from this historical dimension of the Church itself.

In a distinction introduced by Christifideles laici , we find what constitutes the specific difference of the laity: "Certainly all the members of the Church are sharers in this secular dimension but in different ways. In particular the sharing of the lay faithful has its own manner of realization and function, which, according to the Council, is 'properly and particularly' theirs. Such manner is designated with the expression 'secular character'"( Ibid. ).

So the distinction is between the "secular dimension" (proper to the whole Church, as designating its historical condition as the people on pilgrimage in this world and sent to mankind as the sacrament of salvation), and the "secular character" (which indicates a characteristic proper to the lay faithful, which distinguishes them, but does not separate them, from clerics and religious). This is described byLumen gentium: " by reason of their special vocation , it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's will" ( LG 31).

This secularity is assumed by the laity as their proper ambiance, characteristic of their vocation; the "secular" is for them a "theological place" (cf. CL 15): in it, and through it, the laity are "called to contribute... to the sanctification of the world" and therefore also to their own sanctification (cf. LG 31 e CL 15).

They must not therefore "abandon the world", because it is in the world that they are called to transform themselves ever more into collaborators of God the Creator and Redeemer of mankind and of the whole world. Consequently, the laity, as distinct from priests and religious, by reason of their ecclesial vocation, must live out their own Christian existence in and through every kind of temporal commitment, in the variety of conditions of family and social life. (...)

In this vision, the identity of the laity in the Church is defined according to two basic characteristics:
- their dignity as living members of the Church, to which they belong by reason of their baptism;
- the "secular character", as the ambiance in which they carry out their proper mission.

(To be continued)

Conference of General Assistants

6 November 1996: The four Assistants held the regular meeting of the Conference at Camerino, cradle of the Capuchin Order. They planned the liturgies for the meeting of the Presidency in December, and drew up a list of translators. They reviewed the continuation of work in Northern Asia and Central Europe, their commitments to pastoral visits and their presence at national elective Chapters.

5-9 November: The Assistants held the sixth annual long meeting of the Conference at Camerino. They drew up the Regulations of the Conference of General Assistants and studied the altius moderamen and the role of the religious major Superiors. They revised theIndications for the Formation of the Friars regarding the SFO, and outlined a pastoral commentary on the Statutes for Assistance. They programmed the work of the Conference for the next six years.