Posted on 02/22/2023 7:21:26 PM PST by marshmallow
Cardinal Willem Eijk is committed to eliminating Sunday Word and Communion services in the absence of a priest over the next five years.
A Dutch cardinal has said that he is pressing ahead with a plan to phase out Sunday Word and Communion services in the absence of a priest within his territory.
Cardinal Willem Eijk, the Archbishop of Utrecht, said in a Feb. 14 letter that he was committed to eliminating the priestless Sunday celebrations over the next five years, so that the Mass can “occupy its rightful central place” among local Catholics, despite protests from some members of the archdiocese.
In parts of Europe that have seen sharp declines in priestly vocations, Catholics routinely gather on weekdays for Celebrations of the Word and Communion, led by a permanent deacon or lay person. Scripture readings and the proclamation of the Gospel are followed by the distribution of Holy Communion, consecrated at a previous Mass.
When no priest is available to celebrate Sunday Mass, Catholic communities may be permitted to hold Word and Communion services, in accordance with local guidelines and the Vatican liturgy dicastery’s 1988 “Directory for Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest.”
Despite the growing prevalence of such liturgies in some places, Eijk, the Primate of the Netherlands, first signaled his intention to end Sunday celebrations without priests in a 2019 pastoral letter as his archdiocese marked a Year of the Eucharist.
The cardinal unveiled a plan for the gradual elimination of the celebrations — which have taken place in the archdiocese for decades — in a letter dated Oct. 27, 2022, which he said was the fruit of consultation in the archdiocese. He announced that “from Jan. 1, 2028, Word and Communion services on Sundays will be permitted only in exceptional situations.”
(Excerpt) Read more at pillarcatholic.com ...
If peaceful parishioners want to pray to God, then by all means let them continue praying to God. A Priest is a plus but not always necessary.
This sounds like some kind of power struggle.
No, its stopping people from taking legitimate vocations for granted. Lots of Catholics have no idea that they don’t have a religion if they don’t have vocations.
So very true.
A priest is necessary for the celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass. Our Sunday obligation is for the Mass, not just to gather together for Word and Communion. With today's transportation it is not a hardship to travel to a church where the Mass is celebrated.
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