LAKE
751
LAKE
undertake to defend the Catholic doctrine in pubhc
discussions with heretics. But in their private capac-
ity, they may most lawfully defend and teach their
religion by word and writing, wliile submitting them-
selves to the control and guidance of ecclesiastical
authority. Moreo\'er, they may be appointed to give
doctrinal instruction more or less officially, or may
even become the defenders of Catholic truth. Thus
they give excellent help to the clergy in teaching
catechism, the lay masters in our schools give religious
instruction, and some lajTnen have received a missio
canonica, or due ecclesiastical authorization, to teach
the religious sciences in universities and seminaries ; the
important point in this, as in other matters, is for them
to be submissive to the legitimate teaching authority.
(3) As to J urixdidion and Adminhtration. — The
principle is that the laity as such have no sliare in the
spiritual jurisdiction and government of the Church;
but they may be commissioned or delegated by eccle-
siastical authority to exercise certain rights, especially
when there is no question of strictly spiritual jurisdic-
tion, for instance, in the administration of property.
The laity are incapable, if not by Divine law at least
by canon law, of real juristliction in the Church,
according to chap, x, " De constit." (lib. I, tit. ii):
" Attendentes quod laicis etiam religiosis super ecclesiis
et personis ecclesiasticis nulla sit attributa facultas,
quos obsequendi manet necessitas non auctoritas im-
perandi ", i. e., the laity have no authority over things
or persons ecclesiastical; it is their duty to obey not to
command. Therefore no official acts requiring real
ecclesiastical jurisdiction can be properly performed by
the laity; if performed by them, they are null and
void. A layman therefore cannot be at the head of a
Church or any Christian community, nor can he legis-
late in spiritual matters, nor act as judge in essentially
ecclesiastical cases. In particular, the laity (and by
this word we here include the secular authority) can-
not bestow ecclesiastical jurisdiction on clerics under
the form of an election properly so called, conferring
the right to an episcopal or other benefice. An election
by the laity alone, or one in which the laity took part,
would be absolutely null and void (c.lvi, "De elect.")
(see Election). But this refers to canonical election
strictly so called, conferring jurisdiction or the right
to receive it; if it is merely a question, on the other
hand, of selecting an individual, either by way of
presentation or a similar process, the laity are not ex-
cluded, for the canonical institution, the source of
spiritual jurisdiction, is exclusively reserved to the
ecclesiastical authority. That is why no objection can
be raised against the principle we have laid down from
the fact that the people took part in the episcopal
elections in the first ages of the Church; to speak more
accurately, the people manifested their wish rather
than took part in tlie election: the real electors were
the clerics: and lastly, the bishops who were present
were the judges of the election, so that in reality the
final decision rested in the hantls of the ecclesiastical
authority. It cannot be denietl that in the course of
time the secular power encroached on the ground of
spiritual jurisdiction, especially in the case of epis-
copal elections; but the Church always asserted her
claim to independence where spiritual jurisdiction was
involved, as may be clearly seen in the history of the
famous dispute about investitures (q. v.).
When jurisdiction properly so called is duly pro- tected, and there is question of administering tem- poral goods, the laity may and do enjoy as a fact real rights recognized by the Church. The most important is that of presentation or election in the wide sense of the term, now known as nomination, by which certain lajTnen select for the ecclesiastical authorities the person whom they wish to see invested with certain benefices or offices. The best known example is t hat of nomination to sees and other benefices by temporal princes, who have obtained that privilege by concor-
dats (q. v.). Another case recognized and carefully
provided for in canon law is the right of patronage. Thia
right is granted to those who from their own resources
have established a Ijenefice or who have at least amply
endowed it (contributing more than one-third of the
revenue). The patrons can, from the moment of
foundation, reserve to themselves and their descend-
ants, the right of active and passive patronage, not to
mention other privileges rather honorary in their
nature; in exchange for these rights, they undertake
to protect and maintain their fountlation. The right of
active patronage consists principally in the presenta-
tion of the cleric to be invested with the benefice by the
ecclesiastical authorities, provided he fulfils the requi-
site conditions. The right of passive patronage con-
sists in the fact that the candidates for the benefice are
to be selected from the tlescendants or the family of
the foimder. The patrons enjoy by right a certain
precedence, among other things the right to a more
prominent seat in the churches founded or supported
by them; sometimes, also, they enjoy other honours;
they can reserve to themselves a part in the adminis-
tration of the property of the benefice; finally, if they
fall upon evil days, the Church is obliged to help them
from the property that was acquired through the
generosity of their ancestors. All these rights, it is
clear, and particularly that of presentation, are con-
cessions made by the Church, and not privileges which
the laity have of their own right.
It is but equitable tkjt those who furnish the re- sources required by the Church should not be excluded from their ailministration. For that reason the par- ticipation of the laity in the administration of church property, es]5ecially parish property, is justified. Under the tlitTercnt names such as, "building coun- cils", parish councils", "trustees", etc., and with rules carefully drawn up or approved by the ecclesias- tical authorities, and often even recognized by the civil law, there exist almost everywhere administra- tive organizations charged with the care of the tem- poral goods of churches and other ecclesiastical establishments; most of the members are laymen; they are selected in various ways, generally co-option, subject to the approval of the bishop. But this hon- ourable office does not belong to the laity in their own right; it is a privilege granted to them by the Church, which alone lias the right to administer her own prop- erty (Cone. Plen. Baltim. Ill, n. 2S4 so.); they must conform to the regulations and act under the control of the ordinary, with whom ultimately the final deci- sion rests; lastly and above all, they must confine their energies to temporal administration and never encroach on the reserved domain of spiritual things (Cone. Plen. Baltim. II, n. 201; see Buildings, Ec- clesiastical). Lastly, there are many educational and charitable institutions, founded and directed hy laymen, and which are not strictly church property, though they are regularly subject to the control of the ordinary (Cone. Trid., Sess. VII, c. xv; Sess. XXII, c. viii); the material side of these works is not the most important, and to attain their end, the laity who govern there will above all be guided and directed by the advice of their pastors, whose loyal and respectful au-xiliaries they will prove themselves to be.
Ferr.vri.s, Prompta Bibliothem, s. v. Laicus; S.iGMijLLER, Kirchenrecht (Freiburg, 1909), 48: Ladhentids. Instil, juris eccles., n. 50 sq. (Freiburg, 190S) : Kirchenlexicon, s. v. Clerus. A. BOUDINHON.
Lake Indians, called by tliemselves Senijexteb and possibly- identical with the Lahanna of Lewis and Clark in ISO.i, a small trilie of Salishan stock, origi- nally ranging alongColumbiaRiver in north-cast Wash- ington from about Kettle Kails to the liritish line. In 1S21) lort Colvillo trading-post was cstablishod by the Hudson Bay Company in their country, but they re- main<'d almost unchanged until Christianized in 1846, chiefly through the efforts of the Jesuit Father Adrian
