DECREE ON THE APOSTOLATE OF LAY PEOPLE - Apostolicam Actuositatem

VATICAN II 18 November 1965

INTRODUCTION

1. In its desire to intensify the apostolic activity of the People of God[1] the Council now earnestly turns its thoughts to the Christian laity. Mention has already been made in other documents of the laity's special and indispensable role in the mission of the Church.[2] Indeed, the Church can never be without the lay apostolate; it is something that derives from the layman's very vocation as a Christian. Scripture clearly shows how spontaneous and fruitful was this activity in the Church's early days (cf. Acts 11:19-21; 18:26; Rom. 16:1-16; Phil. 4:3).

No less fervent a zeal on the part of lay people is called for today; present circumstances, in fact demand from them an apostolate infinitely broader and more intense. For the constant increase in population, the progress in science and technology, the shrinking of the gaps that have kept men apart, have immensely enlarged the field of the lay apostolate, a field that is in great part open to the laity alone; they have in addition given rise to new problems which require from the laity and intelligent attention and examination. All the more urgent has this apostolate become, now that autonomy --- as is only right --- has been reached in numerous sectors of human life, sometimes with a certain relinquishing of moral and religious values, seriously jeopardizing the Christian life. Besides, in many regions where priests are very scarce or (as is sometimes the case) deprived of the freedom they need for their ministry, it is hard to see how the Church could make her presence and action felt without the help of the laity.

The need for this urgent and many-sided apostolate is shown by the manifest action of the Holy Spirit moving laymen today to a deeper and deeper awareness of their responsibility and urging them on everywhere to the service of Christ and the Church.[3]

The Council will explain in this Decree the nature of the lay apostolate, its character and the variety of its forms; it will state fundamental principles and give pastoral directives for its more effective exercise. These are all to serve as norms in the revision of Canon Law concerned with the lay apostolate.