Presenters
Dolores
R. Leckey
 Dolores
R. Leckey is a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological
Center, where she coordinates the Church Leadership Program.
She is the former Executive Director of the Secretariat
for Family, Laity, Women and Youth at the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), where she served
for twenty years. Prior to that she was a producer for
WNVT, Channel 53 in Northern Virginia and a faculty member
of the DeSales School of Theology.
Her
B.A. is from St. John’s University in New York
and her M.A. from the George Washington University in Washington,
D.C. A widely published author, she is currently working
on a book in the Paulist Press series, Rediscovering
Vatican II, about
the Council’s Decree on the Laity and the proclamation
on Christian Education.
"The
Laity: In the World, In the Church, and In Ministry"
By divine
coincidence the Colloquium on Renewing the Church gets
under way on the 39th anniversary of the promulgation of
the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity. The Fathers
of the Second Vatican Council had approved the decree almost unanimously,
and Pope Paul VI signed it. There was rejoicing in many parts of the Church
because the decree was nearly sidelined. Some said a small miracle brought
it to life. In truth, the "small miracle" was a collective, and "it" wore a
mitre. Gratitude also must be extended to religious orders, in particular the
European Dominicans and Jesuits who in the years preceding the Council were
shaping a "new theology".
Their voices found their way into the deliberations and compromises that forged
so many documents - not only the Laity Decree - but the great constitutions
of the Church: Lumen gentium and Gaudium et spes which held up the irreplaceable
role of the laity in the life of the Church. I
In the
aftermath of the Council there were some remarkable developments
in the United States: Call To Action
(1976) which was a program of the US bishops; the establishment of the
Secretariat for the Laity at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
(1977 and which I served as the founding director); the pastoral reflection, Called
and Gifted (1980)
which was approved on the 15th anniversary of the Decree on the Laity. In
those early years consultation and dialogue were welcomed by the bishops.
How the welcome "wore out" is revealing of the complexities of a world religion.
And then there is the surprising story of ministry. The Decree on the
Apostolate of the Laity did not speak about lay ministry but the seeds
were sown there (and elsewhere) with renewed emphasis on the theology of
baptism, a sign that the Holy Spirit cannot be profaned. Look around and
what you see in 2004 is laity in paid ministerial positions, most of them
in parishes but many in executive leadership in dioceses. Most of these new
leaders are women. The Council Fathers did not foresee this,but then, trusting
in the Spirit makes room for creativity. "I
make all things new" says the Spirit through the prophet . What about the
future? Renewal of the Church in our time will depend largely on the willingness
of the laity to learn about their essential role in the Church, as threshold
people who live their human lives in the world and their human lives in the
Church. Remember, the threshold is where you go in times of earthquake. Has
not that been the experience of recent years?
Colloquium
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