WelCom February 2022
Pope Francis conferred the ministries of catechist, lector, and acolyte upon lay men and women for the first time in St Peter’s Basilica in January. Candidates from three continents received the new ministries. Two people from the Amazonian region in Peru were formally made catechists by the Pope, along with other candidates from Brazil, Ghana, Poland, and Spain. The ministry of lector were conferred on lay Catholics from South Korea, Pakistan, Ghana, and Italy. Pope Francis established the ministry of catechist as an instituted, vocational service within the Catholic Church last May.