Restrictions on Concelebration

Advisory Opinions

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RESTRICTIONS ON CONCELEBRATION

Does canon 902 grant priests a legal right to concelebrate? Can liturgy planners decide not to have concelebration? Can restrictions be placed on the number of concelebrants?

Canon 902 does not give priests a right to concelebrate Mass. On the contrary, it states the right of priests to celebrate individually, “though not during the time when there is a concelebration in the same church or oratory,” and provided there is “the participation of at least some member of the faithful, except for a just and reasonable cause” (c. 906). Clearly, there cannot be a right to concelebrate when there also is a right to celebrate individually, because the two rights would conflict whenever different priests wanted to exercise both rights at the same Mass. The intent of canon 902 is not to grant priests an unlimited right to concelebrate Mass but, for the first time since concelebration was restored at Vatican II, to allow them to concelebrate without the permission of their ordinary.

It was for this reason, when liturgical law was revised following the promulgation of the new code in 1983, that the following sentence was deleted from n. 155 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:

The right to decide on the advisability of concelebration and to permit it in his churches and oratories belongs to every Ordinary and even to every major superior of nonexempt clerical religious institutes and of societies of clerics living in community without vows.

Thus, in accord with canon 902, priests may concelebrate without the permission of their ordinary, but this does not mean they may concelebrate whenever they wish. Not all Masses are concelebrated Masses. Indeed, the law requires concelebration only on two occasions—the ordinations of presbyters and bishops, and the Chrism Mass[1]—but even then not all the priests present are required to concelebrate, nor is there a right for them to do so.

Even at Masses which are concelebrated, the number of concelebrants can be restricted for purposes of good order, aesthetics, or other reasons. This was clear from the beginning of the restored practice as seen in the 1965 Rite of Concelebration which said that the ordinary “may limit the number of concelebrants. . . if, all circumstances being considered, he decides that the dignity of the rite requires this.”[2]

When concelebration was first restored it was a novelty which could be done only with the ordinary's permission, but it soon became a regular practice not only in the cathedral churches and large religious houses, but in parishes and small religious communities as well. Clearly, it was impossible for the typical bishop or major superior to determine how many concelebrants could be admitted for every concelebrated Mass everywhere in his jurisdiction. These decisions had to be made by local officials entrusted by the ordinary with the worship and pastoral care of the local Christian communities-the pastors, local superiors, presiders, and liturgy planners. Those in charge of preparing the liturgy on the local level were best able to determine whether Mass was to be concelebrated, and if so, how many concelebrants were to be admitted. Canon 902 in no way changes this practice.

Nothing in universal law prevents liturgy planners, be they clerical, religious, or lay, from determining with the agreement of the presider that a given Eucharistic celebration will not be concelebrated (outside of the two cases mentioned above), or that the number of concelebrants will be restricted. Can a diocesan bishop, however, establish a right in particular law for priests to concelebrate?

The revised n. 155 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal states: “The right to regulate, in accord with the law, the discipline for concelebration in his diocese, even in churches and oratories of exempt religious, belongs to the bishop.” An indication of what it means to regulate concelebration can be seen in a 1966 particular decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. Regarding the bishop's authority, the decree stated:

It belongs to the bishop . . . to regulate the practice of concelebration in his own diocese (see SC art. 57, §2), e.g., to forbid concelebration in other churches at the time of a concelebration in the cathedral; to prevent abuses; to ensure individual celebration of Masses for the benefit of the faithful; to give rules on the observance of the rite and its practice, on the prayer of the faithful, and on other like matters.[3]

The bishop can issue norms or guidelines on concelebration in keeping with his general authority over the liturgy in the diocese, to which even members of pontifical religious institutes are subject.[4] However, the bishop could not impose concelebration, or give priests the right to concelebrate whenever they wish, because this would be contrary to the right of priests to celebrate individually, a right given in canon 902. At most, it seems the bishop could establish a right to concelebrate only at Masses at which he himself is the presider, but even then the right would be limited by available space. The 1965 Rite of Concelebration, n. 4, reinforces this latter point: “In each case the number of concelebrants is to be settled by considering how many the church and the altar of concelebration can accommodate, even if all the concelebrants are not right next to the table of the altar. The faithful's clear view of the rite must be ensured. . . .”

JOHN M. HUELS, O.S.M.

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NOTES:

[1] General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 153.

[2] Ritus servandus in concelebratione Missae et Ritus Communionis sub utraque specie (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1965), n. 3; translation in Documents on the Liturgy 1963-1979: Conciliar, Papal, and Curial Texts [DOL] (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1982), n. 1796.

[3] Notitiae 2 (1966) 266. Translation in DOL, n. 1354.

[4] See canons 392, §2; 835, §1; 838, §§ 1, 4; and 678, §1.

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SOME DISTINCTIONS ON CONCELEBRATION

The following comments are in light of the questions addressed by John Huels in the previous Advisory Opinion.

Huels indicates that canon 902 does not grant priests the right to concelebrate, but rather assures the right of priests to celebrate individually. The rationale is that if it granted both rights, they could be in conflict. Some additional nuance may be in order. The canon itself forbids the exercise of the right to celebrate individually at the time a concelebration is going on, so it already resolves one aspect of the potential conflict in favor of concelebration.

It is up to the rector of a church to see that good order is observed in the church (c. 561). This applies to admitting priests to celebrate there (c. 903), as well as preaching in the church building (c. 767, §4). It would seem that it is the responsibility of the rector (or of another legitimate superior-also mentioned in c. 561) to determine when concelebrated Masses are to take place in the building, and therefore to limit the right of other priests to celebrate individually at that time and in that place.

But by the same token, the rector or other legitimate superior would also be the person responsible for determining the appropriate number of concelebrants for the church and altar of concelebration-of course, within the norms of the liturgical books and any particular regulations set down by the diocesan bishop. But if a priest wished to concelebrate at a Mass of concelebration, and his participation would be within the number admissable for that concelebration, then the canon says he “can” (possunt) concelebrate and it would seem hard to deny him admission to concelebrate (provided the prescriptions of c. 903 are met, which presume he is to be admitted if he at least has a celebret).

In light of this, the following distinctions are proposed:

1. Every priest has the right to celebrate individually, provided it is at a time when a concelebration is not being held in the church, provided that if possible at least some of the faithful participate, and provided that the welfare of the Christian faithful does not require or urge otherwise.

2. Every priest is at liberty (possunt) to concelebrate, provided it is within the directives of the rector of the church, in keeping with liturgical norms and diocesan norms, and provided that the welfare of the Christian faithful does not require or urge otherwise.

3. A priest who wishes to concelebrate at a concelebration Mass cannot be denied this, unless he is not to be admitted to celebrate in that church, or unless his participation would go beyond the number of concelebrants to be admitted to that concelebration.

So in this sense, he does seem to have a right to concelebrate—a limited right, but his right to celebrate individually is also a limited right.

Finally, the role of the rector of the church raises questions about the role of the presider, and of a liturgy planning group. With regard to the presider, he must operate within the norms for the church building where he is presiding at a celebration. These norms come from general liturgical law, from the particular law the diocesan bishop may have set down, but also from the rector of the church (or other legitimate superior). Within those parameters, the presider is responsible for the good ordering of the particular celebration at which he presides, and therefore over the conduct of the concelebrants as well as the others who exercise their legitimate roles in the celebration.

With regard to a liturgy planning group, they too must operate within the norms for the church building where the celebration is to take place. The presider should be a part of the liturgy planning group itself, so as to assure the unity of the celebration. But if he is not, how is a potential conflict between the liturgy planning group's work and the responsibilities of the presider to be worked out? Obviously it should be handled prior to the celebration, ideally through dialogue. But when the "buck stops," it is supposed to stop with the presider, rather than with the planning group; in one sense they are acting in his name, since he is the one who at the celebration itself has the responsibility to see that all takes place in good order.

JAMES H. PROVOST