CALL BY BISHOP
Involvement of laity A call for “the total mobilisation and commitment of the laity” was made by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Christchurch (the Most Rev. B. P. Ashby) at the opening of New Zealand’s first diocesan lay assembly in Christchurch last evening. Bishop Ashby said that it was in the personal life situation of the laity that the mission of the church would be accomplished. If the lay people were to bear a heavier responsibility for that mission, they must have a greater part in the decisionmaking processes of the church, he said. The new outlook affirmed the bishop as the centre of the local church and the collegial link with the Pope and the universal church. “His authority is that of pastoral service to the community, not the monarchy or the presidency or the prime ministerial status of earthly models. He has his role of Apostle in the body of Christ,” said Bishop Ashby. Bishop Ashby told the assembly, which is meeting this week-end at Villa Maria College, that there was a need for flexibility and a care to avoid dogmatic statement. “When the hand-writing of God is not clear, let us be patient,” he said.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33065, 4 November 1972, Page 16
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201CALL BY BISHOP Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33065, 4 November 1972, Page 16
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