In the spring and summer of 2009, a number of major research projects on the life and ministry of the church were published. In the midst of the information presented regarding the aging and diminishment of religious and priests, there was encouraging news about the increasing leadership in the church being shown by the laity. The universal call to holiness, to being prophetic presences in the world, is alive and well and enthusiastically responded to by the lay members of the Church. St. Paul’s admonition that there are different gifts but the same Spirit that inspires them for the building up of the Body of Christ is shown in an expanding and more culturally diverse way, thanks to the dedicated lives of service and witness of committed lay people.

The need for this lay witness is clear. The Study of Recent Vocations to Religious Life showed that currently, about 75 percent of professed men in U.S. religious communities and more than 91 percent of women religious are 60 or older. According to the Center for Applied Research in the Appostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University the number of American sisters has fallen by nearly two thirds, from 179,954 in 1965 to 61,855 in 2008. The number of priests has also fallen from 58,632 to 40,666. During the same period, the data show, the country’s total Catholic population grew by 40 percent.

Pope Benedict XVI, in a May 2009 address to the Pastoral Convention of the Diocese of Rome, spoke on the theme of pastoral co-responsibility. While noting that the lines between lay and clergy should not be blurred, he said that we need “to improve pastoral structures in such a way that the co-responsibility of all the members of the people of God in their entirety is gradually promoted. … This demands a change in mindset, particularly concerning lay people. They must no longer be viewed as collaborators of the clergy and religious but truly recognized as co-responsible for the church’s being and action, thereby fostering the consolidation of a mature and committed laity.”

The United States has been working to deepen the sense of co-responsibility for nearly twenty five years and has initiated a number of ecclesial ministry formation programs for the laity. According to CARA, there were more than 17,000 students enrolled in lay ecclesial ministry formation programs in 2008 -2009. The total number of seminarians, diocesan and religious, was around 5,000. The number of lay ministers –-more than 30,000 –- has now surpassed the number of active diocesan priests (approximately 27,000) Of these lay ministers, women comprise 80 percent, according to the Lay Parish Ministers study conducted by the National Pastoral Life Center.

An inclusive, diverse, vibrant and effective Church is one that supports, strengthens, and encourages the gifts of all its members. The challenges of our times have opened the minds and hearts of many to help make this happen.

Thomas E. Brennan, S.D.B., Salesian Representative at the United Nations

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