Laity are not permitted to deliver homilies at Mass, Vatican affirms

June 23, 2026

The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments affirmed that only clergy are permitted to preach homilies during Mass.

On March 30, the German Bishops’ Conference asked the dicastery to “permit, in exceptional circumstances, a duly commissioned lay member of the faithful to preach in place of the homily during the celebration of the Eucharist.”

“While expressing appreciation for the pastoral concerns that inspired the request, the Dicastery reaffirms that the current discipline cannot be dispensed from by means of an indult, since the reservation of the homily to a priest or deacon is not a merely disciplinary norm but derives from the very nature of the liturgy,” the dicastery stated in its response, dated June 17 and released today.

“This norm has been repeatedly confirmed by the Magisterium, especially in the instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum (nos. 64-66), which expressly excludes the possibility that lay faithful may give the homily during the celebration of Mass, even under another designation,” the dicastery added.

 

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Further information:

• Vatican Dicastery: A layperson cannot deliver homily at Mass (Vatican News, 6/23/26)
• Vatikan antwortet auf den Antrag der Bischofskonferenz auf Predigt-Indult (Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, 6/23/26)
• Vatican says ‘nein’ to lay homilies in Germany (The Pillar, 6/23/26)
• Press Release of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (6/23/26)