The Vatican issued a decree approved by Pope Francis on April 13. In it the Dicastery for the Clergy has updated the discipline relating to the intentions of the Holy Masses and the related offerings, introducing clearer rules to guarantee transparency, correctness and respect for the will of the faithful.
This new decree, replaces the 1991 instruction Mos Iugiter, maintains Canon 945 of the Code of Canon Law. The document – which integrates and specifies the norms already contained in the Mos iugiter decree of 1991 – was created to address some critical issues that have emerged in practice and especially with regard to masses with “collective” intentions, or celebrations with multiple intentions in the same rite.
The Dicastery for the Clergy, led by Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik (pictured), updates the discipline relating to the intentions of the Holy Masses and the related offerings, introducing clearer rules to guarantee transparency, correctness and respect for the will of the faithful. The Decree approved by Pope Francis in specific form today, April 13, will come into force on April 20, Easter Sunday.
Vatican News explains that this new decree concerns one of the most concrete ways in which the faithful participate in the life of the Church: requesting that a Mass be celebrated for the living or the dead. A very ancient custom, based on profound pastoral and spiritual motivations, regulated until now by conditions that allowed on the one hand to keep the word given to the offerers and on the other to remove the danger of "trading" in sacred things. By virtue of this practice, the faithful through the offering, we read in the text, "wish to unite themselves more closely to the Eucharistic Sacrifice by adding to it a sacrifice of their own and collaborating in the needs of the Church and, in particular, contributing to the maintenance of its sacred ministers". Thus, the faithful "unite themselves more intimately to Christ who offers himself and are, in a certain sense, even more deeply inserted into communion with Him" according to a use that "is not only approved by the Church, but is also promoted by her".
In particular, the Dicastery establishes that, if ordered by the provincial council or the meeting of the bishops of the province, "priests can accept multiple offerings from different offerers, cumulating them with others and satisfying them with a single Mass, celebrated according to a single 'collective' intention, if - and only if - all the offerers have been informed and have freely consented". It is made explicit in this regard that, in the absence of an "explicit consent", the will of the offerers "can never be presumed", indeed, "in its absence, it is always presumed that it has not been given".
If first of all it is recommended that "every Christian community be careful to offer the possibility of celebrating daily Masses of single intentions", the priest, as stated in the Decree, "can celebrate different Masses even according to 'collective' intentions, while remaining firm that he is permitted to retain, daily, only one offering for a single intention among those accepted".
Furthermore, the decree renews the provisions already in force, according to which "the minister, in addition to the offerings determined by the competent authority, should not ask for anything for the administration of the sacraments, always avoiding that the most needy are deprived of the help of the sacraments because of poverty". Furthermore, it is clarified that each diocesan bishop can, in consideration of the specific circumstances of the particular Church and its clergy, order the destination of the offerings "to parishes in a state of need in his own or other dioceses, especially in mission countries".
Bishops and parish priests are called to be vigilant, ensuring that every intention and offering is recorded in special registers, and to ensure that “the distinction between the application for a specific intention of the Mass (even if ‘collective’) and the simple remembrance during a celebration of the Word or in some moments of the Eucharistic celebration” is clear to all. In this regard, it is specified that “the solicitation” or even just “the acceptance of offerings” in relation to these two latter cases is “gravely illicit” and requires recourse to “disciplinary and/or penal measures”.
Finally, the Dicastery for the Clergy announces that, ten years after the entry into force of these norms, it will promote a study of the practice and of the current legislation on the matter, with a view to a "verification" of its application and a possible "updating".
Source: Vatican News
Image: Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for the Clergy . Licas News File Photo
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