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Lay people have been leading Catholic funerals for half a century in France, but some are now wondering if bringing back priests will help evangelization efforts
Welcoming the funeral directors in front of the church in Antony, a municipality in the southern suburbs of Paris. (Photo by SABRINA DOLIDZE)
By Mélinée Le Priol |
"Thank you, it was a very beautiful Mass!"
How many times have lay people who lead church funerals heard this compliment?
They must then clarify that it was not a Mass, since there was neither a priest nor the Eucharist. Rather, it was a liturgical celebration led by a Catholic who was commissioned, not ordained.
Lay people can preside at funerals because, unlike weddings, they are not a sacrament.
To avoid confusion, most of the laity involved do not wear an alb, but a plainly visible cross.
In response to the priest shortage
It was just half a century ago, on November 26, 1971, that the Congregation for Divine Worship gave the French bishops permission to "deputize" lay people to conduct funerals -- if pastoral necessity required it.
Faced with the drop in the number of priests in France, this recourse to lay people gradually became widespread. It accelerated at the beginning of the 2000s.
This is particularly true in rural areas, where there are greater distances to cover.
There are more priests to conduct funerals in the larger cities, but lay people are still the ones who often meet with the family to prepare the service.
"Having their time consumed by sacramental ministry, priests have in a way deserted the field of funerals," summarizes sociologist Tanguy Chatel, co-founder of the think tank Cercle Vulnérabilités et Société.
"Catholic theology is so focused on death and resurrection that it can be surprising that priests are practically absent from this crucial moment," he says.
Many families say they appreciate having lay people lead the funerals because they can more easily relate to and confide in them. But others complain that the absence of a priest is like having a "second class" funeral or only a quasi-religious celebration.
Lay-led funerals are just as valid
Sometimes the desire for a more traditional priest-led funeral is so strong that grieving families are duped by "fake priests" who hire out their services!
"When it is explained to them, families understand that a service conducted by a lay person is just as valid," assures Rémy Kauffmann, former head of the funeral ministry in the Diocese of Nanterre.
"The main criterion is whether communion would be meaningful to the congregation present that day. Even if the deceased was a practicing Catholic, if none of his or her relatives plan to take communion, there is no reason to justify a Eucharistic celebration," he insists.
In recent years, some priests -- especially younger one from the new movements -- have promoted a revival of clergy-led funerals. They see the funeral Mass as an opportune "place for evangelization".
But Tanguy Chatel the sociologist says this trend is only a "tremor" and nowhere near an earthquake.
"I can't quantify it, but it seems this seems to be a tendency more in the cities and in certain less secular areas," he says.
Chatel insists that training is of utmost importance, for laypeople as well as for priests.
"In the seminary, future priests are not trained for accompany people who are at the end of life, nor for handling mourning," he says.
"As for the laity, due to a lack of training, some adopt dogmatic positions that make them feel secure, imposing a very strict framework without entering into dialogue with the families," the sociologist points out.
He's convinced that too many dioceses have "not taken the measure of this need" for training. And he is urging the Church in France to address the situation immediately.
This is becoming all the more urgent for demographic reasons. In the coming years, France is expected to see a sharp increase in deaths.
While about 600,000 people died in 2020, that number is expect to exceed 750,000 twenty years from now.
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