Laypeople have a special mission in the church the way they have a special mission in society. In popular devotions the laity created a form of spirituality that lasted for over a millennium. Popular religiosity is alive in Latin America and in US ethnic subcultures. Vatican II redirected lay spirituality toward the liturgy as «the source and summit.» We will visit a parish where this ideal is put into practice, but in the wider church the role of the laity came to be restricted to ecclesial...
