Role of the Laity

The laity have a dominant role in the Church's mission to evangelize because they make up over 99% of the Church and they live out their lives in the mission field. The laity have a role to play inside the Church, but their primary job is to transform the world through the Gospel.

Key Insights

Apostolate
The laity participate in the apostolate -- acting as apostles -- by their Christian vocation. Their role is referred to as the "lay apostolate."

Role in the World
The laity have a special and primary role in the world, where they have distinct competence and presence: they are called to witness in the way they live their daily lives and to explicitly share their faith with others.

Role in the Church
The laity also have an important role in the Church, particularly in bringing back the concerns of the world and determining with others how to address them.

Quotations

To intensify the apostolic activity of the people of God,(1) the most holy synod earnestly addresses itself to the laity, whose proper and indispensable role in the mission of the Church has already been dealt with in other documents.(2) The apostolate of the laity derives from their Christian vocation and the Church can never be without it. Sacred Scripture clearly shows how spontaneous and fruitful such activity was at the very beginning of the Church (cf. Acts 11:19-21; 18:26; Rom. 16:1-16; Phil. 4:3).

Our own times require of the laity no less zeal: in fact, modern conditions demand that their apostolate be broadened and intensified. With a constantly increasing population, continual progress in science and technology, and closer interpersonal relationships, the areas for the lay apostolate have been immensely widened particularly in fields that have been for the most part open to the laity alone. These factors have also occasioned new problems which demand their expert attention and study. This apostolate becomes more imperative in view of the fact that many areas of human life have become increasingly autonomous. This is as it should be, but it sometimes involves a degree of departure from the ethical and religious order and a serious danger to Christian life. Besides, in many places where priests are very few or, in some instances, deprived of due freedom for priestly work, the Church could scarcely exist and function without the activity of the laity.

Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, 1
(Apostolicam Actuositatem)
Second Vatican Council
Emphasis added