The Duty of the Parish Priest to Fully Announce the Word of God
Prof. Louis Aldrich – Taipei

According to Canon 528, "A pastor is obliged to make provision so that
the  word of God is proclaimed in its entirety to those living in his
parish." Here we will examine this obligation on three levels: who is to
be instructed, how they are to be instructed and what content needs to
be especially stressed in today's parish.

Canon 528 demands that the pastor "take care that the lay members of
the Christian faithful are instructed in the truths of the faith" and
"to have particular care for the Catholic education of children and
youth."  The pastor should also, according to this Canon and Canon 771-2 proclaim the word to those "who have ceased the practice of their
religion" and non-believers.  For the adult laity the Sunday homily is
especially important and it should be supplemented by other catechetical
instructions.  To deepen the faith, the pastor should promote works that
show forth the spirit of the gospel, including the promotion of social
justice.  In order that the Word of God be fully announced, other Canons
exhort the pastor, under the authority of the diocesan bishop, "to
arrange for spiritual exercises, sacred missions, or other forms of
preaching adapted to the pastoral needs of the parish." (New Commentary
on Canon Law, Edited by John Beal, et. al., p. 699).  Finally, for
non-believers and those who have ceased to practice their faith,
initiating and supporting programs of evangelism and re-evangelism are a responsibility of the pastor.  In these evangelistic efforts the pastor
"should make every effort, even with the collaboration of the Christian
faithful."

As far as the content, without leaving out any of the essentials of the
Church's teaching on faith and morals, in today's Church a courageous
preaching of what are, for contemporary men, the hard to hear moral
precepts on sexual and human life ethics is necessary before a full and
entire proclamation of God's Word is achieved.  It is a sad fact that
some pastors never proclaim the truth about contraception, artificial
reproduction and abortion.  I have encountered many Catholics, weekly
communicants, who simply and sincerely did not know that artificial
insemination and in vitro fertilization are forbidden to Catholics.  The
strategy of some Bishops and pastors to avoid proclaiming the full of
Word of God, so as not to offend or lose parishioners, has born a bitter
fruit: in long run, their parishes and dioceses have decreased radically
in numbers, in some cases weekly attendance at Mass has declined from
80% to 15%.  These examples only confirm the foundation of Canon 528:
that it is only by the full and entire preaching of God's Word that the
parish members receive and grow in the grace of Jesus Christ.