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Concept
Laity
Summary
In religious organizations, the laity (ˈleɪəti) consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother.
In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson (also layman or laywoman) is a person who is not qualified in a given profession or does not have specific knowledge of a certain subject. The phrase "layman's terms" is used to refer to plain language that is understandable to the everyday person, as opposed to specialised terminology understood only by a professional.
Some Christian churches utilise lay preachers, who preach but are not clergy. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses the term lay priesthood to emphasise that its local congregational leaders are unpaid.
Terms such as lay priest, lay clergy and lay nun were once used in certain Buddhist cultures, especially Japanese, to indicate ordained persons who continued to live in the wider community instead of retiring to a monastery.
The word laity means "common people" and comes from the λαϊκός, meaning "of the people", from λαός, laos, meaning "people" at large. The word lay (part of layperson, etc.) derives from the Greek word via Anglo-French lai, from Late Latin laicus.
In many Christian denominations, including the Catholic and the Anglican churches, anyone who is not ordained as a deacon, priest, or bishop is referred to as a layman or a laywoman. Non-ordained preachers or readers are considered part of the laity.
Catholic laity
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) devoted its decree on the apostolate of the laity Apostolicam actuositatem and chapter IV of its dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium to the laity in a sense narrower than that which is normal in the Catholic Church. The normal definition of laity is that given in the Code of Canon Law:
By divine institution, there are among the Christian faithful in the Church sacred ministers who in law are also called clerics; the other members of the Christian faithful are called lay persons.
Official source
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