Pope Francis has consistently alerted the Catholic Church to the dangers of clericalism. One way in which clericalism finds expression is by clericalizing the laity and Francis’s warning in this has particular relevance for Ireland as we attempt to address the consequences at pastoral level of a collapse in vocations to priesthood and religious life. The temptation is to try to carry on as if nothing has changed and often to ask lay people to fill roles previously carried out by clergy in a way that suggests they are the ones who are truly living out their baptismal calling as opposed to those who live out their Christianity in the course of their ordinary daily lives. This raises important questions around the roles of laity and ordained, the evolution of ministry, and current pastoral practice. This article examines theological responses to these questions during and since Vatican II. I propose we are best served at this time by focusing on the relationship between the priesthood of the faithful and ordained priesthood. I also argue that we need an inductive methodology which enables our theology to be guided by praxis.

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平信徒的教化：教宗方济各对爱尔兰天主教会的先见之明警告

教皇方济各一直提醒天主教会注意教权主义的危险。教权主义表达的一种方式是将平信徒教化，弗朗西斯的警告与爱尔兰特别相关，因为我们试图在牧灵层面解决神职人员和宗教生活崩溃的后果。诱惑是试图继续，好像什么都没有改变，并经常要求平信徒填补以前由神职人员担任的角色，以表明他们是真正活出洗礼呼召的人，而不是那些活着的人在他们日常生活的过程中脱离他们的基督教。这引发了围绕平信徒和按立的角色、事工的演变以及当前的牧灵实践的重要问题。本文考察了梵蒂冈二世期间和之后对这些问题的神学回应。我建议此时最好专注于信徒的圣职与按立圣职之间的关系。我还认为，我们需要一种归纳方法，使我们的神学能够以实践为指导。