In a parish of the diocese of Münster, the rites for the dead are now being entrusted to the laity. Since the summer of 2005, Father Hans Gerd Paus, parish priest of the church of Sankt Margareta, has received official permission from his bishop, the Right Rev. Reinhard Lettmann, to commission permanent deacons and pastoral leaders to conduct the rites. It is now no rarity for these liturgies to be entrusted to laypeople: but this is the first time the commission has been given by the bishop. According to the report carried by the German Catholic press agency KNA, the parish priest subjected the candidates for this service to intensive training, starting out from the principle that the members of the community should accompany their own dead to burial, as was the custom in the early Church. The training also included a theological introduction to the funeral liturgy, confrontation with death and mourning, courses in rhetoric, exercises in language and role playing as preparation for meetings with families. For two years, the group met once each month, obtaining at the end the blessing of Monsignor Lettmann, who assigned a three-year commission to the participants. They handle everything: from visits to the families to burial. The funeral rites themselves are celebrated by the parish priest. During their first visit to the relatives, the laypeople ask for a photo of the deceased to be able mentally to visualise it and dedicate themselves to listening to what the members of the family have to say. The texts and music of the funeral rites are, as far as possible, chosen in deference to the wishes expressed by the relatives. Two members of the pastoral group are always present for the liturgy of burial at the cemetery: either the parish priest and one layperson, or two laypersons. The experiences with the project thus far have been positive and the example of Sankt Margareta is spreading to neighbouring parishes, where courses to train other laypeople have already begun.
