Laity lacks formation to evangelize, Mexican bishop says

Mexico City, Mexico, Nov 21, 2005 / 22:00 pm

Auxiliary Bishop Gustavo Rodriguez Vega of Monterrey, Mexico, said this week the laity’s lack of formation has hindered their ability to assume their important role in evangelization as envisioned by Vatican II.

During a diocesan conference on the laity, Bishop Rodriguez called for greater formation of the laity.  While the laity in general express an interest in partaking of the Sacraments, he said, “the mistake is believing that just receiving them is enough.”

Vatican II’s vision of the role of the laity, called to evangelize the world through the “witness of their own faith,” has not been explained sufficiently, the bishop continued.  While pastors are on the front lines in the Church, the laity are on the frontlines in the world, “and it is there where they must exercise their mission as Christians, with their testimony and good example,” he noted.  Pope Benedict XVI has reiterated the importance of the role of the laity, Bishop Rodriguez maintained, but the laity need to be more conscientious of their mission in the world.

If Catholics, who make up an overwhelming percentage of the populace, were to truly live their faith, “there would be less injustice, less crime.  Less of those things that go against the will of God and that take place on a daily basis,” he explained.