Opus Dei Bishop Wants Lay People To Perform Marriages, Baptise
Bishop José Maria Bonnemain of Chur, Switzerland, an Opus Dei priest, allows lay employees to administer baptisms even though the diocese has enough priests. Lay baptisms are commonplace in many Western European dioceses, although the number of baptisms is in massive decline.
For lay employees to be able to perform weddings, certain conditions must be met, Bonnemain told Kath.ch (22 October). A bishop may delegate this task to lay people after approval by the bishops' conference and Rome.
“I am about to initiate this, but I will first discuss it with the Council of Priests." The number of church weddings Chur Diocese has dramatically plummeted. The few who do marry in church are mostly practising Catholics who insist on the presence of a priest.
For Bonnemain, it is "logical" that lay employees in charge of a [dead] parish should be commissioned to perform baptisms and, if possible, marriages. In August, Bonnemain said he had no objection to homosex marriage, but simply wanted to call it something else.
Picture: José Maria Bonnemain, © Pressebild, #newsKcerhyaesp
For lay employees to be able to perform weddings, certain conditions must be met, Bonnemain told Kath.ch (22 October). A bishop may delegate this task to lay people after approval by the bishops' conference and Rome.
“I am about to initiate this, but I will first discuss it with the Council of Priests." The number of church weddings Chur Diocese has dramatically plummeted. The few who do marry in church are mostly practising Catholics who insist on the presence of a priest.
For Bonnemain, it is "logical" that lay employees in charge of a [dead] parish should be commissioned to perform baptisms and, if possible, marriages. In August, Bonnemain said he had no objection to homosex marriage, but simply wanted to call it something else.
Picture: José Maria Bonnemain, © Pressebild, #newsKcerhyaesp