A quote from Pope Francis:
[Clericalism is] “one of the ills of the Church. But it is a sin of complicity, as priests are subject to the temptation to clericalise the laity, while many laypersons ask on their knees to be clericalised, because it is convenient. … So this is a sin committed by two hands. We must resist this temptation. The layperson must be a layperson, baptized and with the strength that comes from baptism. A servant, but with a lay vocation, and this cannot be sold, bargained for, and one is not complicit with the other, because it is a question of identity. … Is the deacon or the priest more important than the layperson? No! … The function of the layperson cannot be exercised by the priest, and the Holy Spirit is free; sometimes it inspires a priest to do something, and at other times it inspires a layperson.”
-- Audience with members of the “Corallo” Association, a network of local Catholic-inspired broadcasters from all regions of Italy, March 22, 2014
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