Cecilia from Argentina: One of the 28 laywomen to whom Pope Francis will confer the ministry of the lectorate

This sweet and smiling young woman, with a contagious smile, is one of the 28 lay people to whom Pope Francis will confer this Sunday the ministry of the lector at Mass for the VI edition of the Sunday of the Word of God.

Her name is Cecilia de los Ángeles López and she arrived in Rome on Thursday from the Argentine city of Corrientes, on the border with Brazil and Paraguay, “very excited” and “grateful” for having been chosen to fulfill this mission.

“It is a grace from God, a gift that I frame as a special vocation for lay people who are single. There is not only a vocation to the priesthood or marriage, we lay people also have to commit ourselves to the Church, and this is a precious path to do so,” he assures a few hours before the solemn ceremony that the Holy Father will preside over with a specific ritual in which Altar of Confession in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

Until January 2021, the ministries of lector and lay acolyte, which derive from baptism and not the sacrament of priestly orders, were reserved for men as prior steps to priestly ordination. But the Pontiff also opened them to women.

Thus he wanted, in some way, to institutionalize the participation of lay women in the Eucharist, in tasks such as reading the Holy Scripture. Chores that Cecilia, in fact, has been doing since she was fifteen years old—she is now 40—when she started singing in her parish choir.

“There have always been very few of us in my community and, as there was always a lack of volunteers to read, when I was fifteen years old the parish priest gave me that task. In addition, he also sang at the same celebration,” he explains.

Cecilia studied at a school run by the Sisters of Mercy, and from a very young age, when the rest of her classmates went out for recess, she went to the chapel to pray. “I was always an introverted girl, but there I felt free,” she remembers.

During her adolescence she was invited to join a choir. “I discovered another way to pray,” he says. And at the age of 16 he entered the Legion of Mary, an international association of lay people founded in Dublin (Ireland) by Frank Duff, famous for his conviction that everyone, without exception, is called to be saints.

“We are guided by service and humility, like the Virgin,” he details. Since then, he sings and reads at the Masses of his parish.

Likewise, the Bible is very present in their daily lives. Begin the days by reading the Gospel of the day and reflecting on how to put the Word of God into practice.

“It is not an easy task, but I feel that those minutes I spend reading the Gospel set the tone for the rest of the day, whether something good or bad happens,” he says.

Starting this Sunday, after the Holy Father blesses her and confers this ministry on her, this Argentine, who works as a lawyer in a legal office and in the municipality of Corrientes, will continue serving at the Masses of her parish.

“I will continue to provide that talent to the Church, but in a more official way,” he assures.

In fact, for her what is really important is not what is going to change in her life, but what her future as a reading minister can inspire others.

“I think that many lay people are sometimes ashamed or somewhat afraid, which stops them from taking the initiative to get up on the pulpit and read during liturgical functions. I hope this infects you,” he concludes.