Lay Led Funeral Rites

The Church assumes that the laity will assist with the leadership of some of the funeral rites outside of Mass, especially Vigils and Committals.  The Order of Christian Funerals provides:

14. When no priest or deacon is available for the vigil and the related rites or the rite of committal, a lay person presides.

In communities without regular access to a priest, funerals outside of Mass (which are not sacramental rites) may be presided over by lay people by virtue of their baptismal priesthood. In many places, the option for a layperson to preside at a funeral outside of Mass relieves a significant burden from priests who can sometimes celebrate multiple funerals in a day. Furthermore, some laypersons have a particular gift of accompanying people in times of grief and they experience a particular call to this pastoral ministry.

The possibility of a lay person being commissioned to lead the funeral service is provided for in The Order of Christian Funerals:

151. The priest is the ordinary presiding minister of the funeral liturgy. Except for Mass, a deacon may conduct the funeral liturgy. If pastoral need requires, the conference of bishops, with the permission of the Apostolic See, may decide that lay‑persons also preside at the funeral liturgy outside Mass.

It is important to make provision for training programs and formation opportunities for laypersons who feel called to prepare families for the funeral of a loved one, in the art of accompaniment and in the art of celebration required to preside at a funeral liturgy.