Laypeople who are suitable are capable of being admitted to Church offices and functions according to provisions of Church law (canon 228). This is a complex canon.
To be suitable means to be qualified with the requisite “knowledge, prudence and integrity” to perform the function “which they are able to exercise according to the precepts of the law.”
Laypeople may serve as experts and advisors. For example, they may serve as chancellors, notaries, administrators of a parish, or in a tribunal as judges, defenders of the bond, auditors, advocates or promoters of justice. They may also serve on councils, advisory groups, committees, etc., as appointed.
That said, laypeople who dedicate themselves exclusively to Church service or apostolic work either permanently or temporarily are obliged, and have the right to acquire, knowledge of Christian doctrine so that they may “conscientiously, earnestly and diligently” fulfill their role, Church law states.
In return, laypeople serving in these roles have the right to decent remuneration to provide for their needs and the needs of their family. They also have the right to social security and health benefits. Excluded from this canon are those who provide professional or technical services under service contracts. These relations are governed by civil law.
Editor’s note: This series about the rights and obligations of the Christian faithful, as set forth in canon (Church) law, has been written especially for the Catholic News Herald by Mercy Sister Jeanne-Margaret McNally. Sister Jeanne-Margaret is a distinguished authority on canon law, author of the reference guide “Canon Law for the Laity,” and frequent lecturer at universities and dioceses. A graduate of The Catholic University of America with multiple degrees including a doctorate in psychology and a licentiate of canon law (JCL), she is a psychologist for the Tribunal of the Diocese of Charlotte and a judge in the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Miami.