What Happened to the Privileged Altars?

[Editors note: With the decommissioning of the Privileged Altars, we at Canon902 cannot but wonder if this was done to promote the modern practice of concelebration since the continuation of such altars would encourage priests to offer Masses privately. At the minimum it took away an additional desire for the priest to consider offering a private Mass at such wonderful altars of sacrifice.]

by Br. Albertus Mariæ

A Privileged Altar is an altar on which a priest could, at one time, say Mass to gain a plenary indulgence for the souls in Purgatory. There is evidence of such like indulgences as far back as Pope Innocent II (1130). Pope Paul VI removed the privileges from such altars, but they are worth being familiar with because they emphasize the concern of the Church Militant for the Church Suffering, especially in the liturgy at Holy Mass wherein the Sacrifice of Christ is offered for their relief. We should be particularly familiar with the practical rules by which Privileged Altars were regulated, as liturgical practices relate the faith of the Church (Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi).

One Privileged Altar may be had per church, unless Rome gave exceptions for more. If a Privileged Altar is moved, so does the privilege, as long as the church to which it is moved exists. The altar must be fixed or semi-fixed (fixed, but made of less valuable materials). An indication of the privilege on such altars is helpful but not required. If such an indication be provided, all that was required according to the 1917 Code was to say “privileged altar and, according to the words of grant, perpetual or for a time, daily or not” (Can. 918 §1, emphasis added). The Pope gave the permanent privilege to an altar, and in the 1917 Code of Canon Law, so could a bishop. Prior to this Code, bishops could only give such privileges for a seven-year span with permission from the Pope (As a side note, if a priest makes the heroic act of charity for the Souls in Purgatory, the privilege attaches to the priest. This is a personal privilege, as opposed to a local one.) The privilege is attached to the materials, not the altar stone. Therefore, in the case of desecration, the privilege remains if the material of the altar remains intact.

Priests were not permitted to request a larger stipend for such Masses, “For the celebration of Masses on a privileged altar, no greater offering for the Mass can be required on the basis of the privilege” (918 §2). If a Mass was said for more than one soul, it must be specified which soul gets the indulgence.

Canon Law

In the 1917 Code, there are multiple references to Privileged Altars and their regulation. Cardinals had the faculty, “Of enjoying a personally privileged altar daily” (CIC 239 §1, º10). There were also special privileges on November 2, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, so that all Masses of that day were as a plenary indulgence for the souls in Purgatory, “On the day of the Commemoration of all the faithful departed, all Masses enjoy the privilege just as if they were celebrated at a privileged altar” (917 §1). During the Forty Hours Devotion (a special period of forty hours approved by the bishop when the church left Our Lord exposed on an altar, even during Mass), Masses on the altar of exposition offered a plenary indulgence for these souls as well, “All the altars of churches, on those days in which there is conducted therein the devotion of the Forty Hours, are privileged” (917 §2).

Popes

The Popes of old increased these privileges for special occasions. Pope Gregory XIII made the altar of the Church of St. Thomas in Paravur, India, a Privileged altar in 1575 at the request of two native priests of the realm. Indulgences were once given for visiting the Privileged altars at the seven churches of Rome as ruled by Pope Sixtus V in his Bull of 1586, Egregia Populi Romani Pietas. St. Peter’s Basilica has seven such altars.[1] Pope Clement X, in 1672, declared the altar of the Eucharistic miracle at Lanciano a Privileged altar during the Octave of All Souls and every Monday. Pope Leo XIII granted the favor of a personal privileged altar on his priestly jubilee, “We grant by Our Apostolic authority a plenary indulgence to be gained by such of the faithful, applicable to the dead, and the favor of a privileged altar to all those who, as has been said before, say Mass” (Leo XIII, Quod Anniversarius, §9, 1888). He also made the last Sunday in September of that year a day for commemorating the Poor Souls, “With the greatest solemnity possible, and according to the rite ordered in the Missal for the Commemoration of all Souls” (Ibid., §7). Pius XII did something similar for his episcopal jubilee (May 12-13, 1948), and granted a personal privileged altar for those who fell during war.[2]

We see a different mindset in Pope Paul VI, who dissolved Privileged Altars when he changed the structure of Indulgences:

Holy Mother Church, extremely solicitous for the faithful departed, has decided that suffrages can be applied to them to the widest possible extent at any Sacrifice of the Mass whatsoever, abolishing all special privileges in this regard (Pope Paul VI, Indulgentiarum Doctrina, Apostolic Constitution, 1967, n. 20).

But what is the “largest possible extent?” Wasn’t this already possible? Was the Church wrong before? How much more possible could this be? Isn’t the Mass already as efficacious as possible? And wasn’t it more efficacious before when there was a plenary indulgence attached in addition to the Mass itself? With the Novus Ordo, don’t we need that indulgence more? The prayers of the Mass are less meritorious from a standpoint of the extrinsic value as they are weaker. While it is true that every Mass has infinite value, there is an amount of grace that depends on the subjective dispositions and holiness of the priest and faithful. Furthermore, the privilege of an indulgence will ensure that such graces are maximized if the priest and faithful are not holy enough to get the equivalent of a plenary indulgence for a soul in Purgatory from other prayers and works, since the indulgences of the privileged altar are proper to the Souls in Purgatory alone.

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NOTES:

[1] 1) The Altar of Our Lady, commonly called the “Gregoriana,” 2) SS. Processus and Martinianus, 3) St. Michael the Archangel, 4) St. Petronilla, 5) Our Lady "of the Pillar,” 6) The Holy Apostles St. Simon and St. Jude, and 7) St. Gregory the Great.

[2] Collectio Decretorum ad Sacram Liturgiam Spectantium ab Anno 1927 ad annum 1946, 2nd ed. (Rome: Edizioni Liturgiche, 1947), 110.3. Quoted by Br. Gabriel-Marie, The Privilege of the Privileged Altar, March, 2007, at The Angelus Online.

SOURCES:

Br. Gabriel-Marie. "The Privilege of the Privileged Altar." March 2007. The Angelus Online. https://isidore.co/misc/Res%20pro%20Deo/Pope%20St.%20Pius%20X%20&%E2%81%84or%20SSPX/The%20Angelus/HTMLs/2583.html.

Leo XIII. Quod Anniversarius. 1888.

The Raccolta. 1910.

"Visits to the Blessed Sacrament." Liturgia Latina. Accessed September 19, 2026. http://www.liturgialatina.org/raccolta/visits.htm.

1917 Code of Canon Law.