New role for Bishops, Major Superiors

Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter, Motu Proprio Competentias quasdam decernere (Assignment of certain competencies), made public on February 15, 2022, granting direct decision-making authority through the transfer of certain responsibilities from the Holy See to local diocesan Bishops and Major Superiors. Pope Francis states that the intention of the changes is to foster a spirit of collegiality and pastoral responsibility on the part of Bishops and Major Superiors and support the “principles of subsidiarity, rationality, effectiveness, and efficiency.”

Several canons in the Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church (CIC 1983) and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO) are modified by the aforesaid Apostolic Letter. Thus, Article 9 transferred a responsibility from the Holy See to diocesan Bishops and Major Superiors with regard to Mass obligations. A sort of decentralisation!

The key principles and purpose behind this transfer of authority are:

1. Proximity to the Faithful: The primary objective of decentralisation is to promote rapid and effective pastoral governance. By empowering local authorities to make decisions, the Church is better positioned to address immediate and localised needs. This strategy enhances the Church’s ability to remain closely connected to people and the situations that necessitate attention.

2. Shared Collegiality: It empowers diocesan Bishops and Religious Superiors, recognising the “pluralistic universality” of the Church that embraces cultural and regional differences without undermining unity.

3. Principle of Subsidiarity: Matters need to be handled by the smallest, lowest, or least centralised competent authority rather than by a higher and more distant one, whenever possible and reasonable.

Due to Pope Francis’ reforms, several processes that required the Holy See to review were eliminated. The Holy See will now instead take a much less time-consuming role, “confirming” various decisions made at a lower level or even allowing the lower authority to decide independently.

One such activity is sorting out pious wills regarding the Mass obligation, which is found in Canon 1308. The major modification in Canon 1308 §1 transfers the competence for a reduction of the obligation of Masses for a just and necessary cause. A prime example of the decentralisation of the Apostolic See’s authority can certainly be found in the transfer of these competencies from the Holy See to Bishops and to certain Superiors.

In the Roman Catholic Church and Canon Law, a “pious will” refers to a bequest or last will and testament that designates money or assets for a religious or charitable purpose. A common provision in pious wills is the establishment of a Mass obligation, which legally binds the receiving Church/Parish/any ecclesiastical institute, such as a hospital/university/school, or a priest, to celebrate a specific number of Masses for the soul of the deceased, typically accompanied by a monetary offering known as a Mass stipend.

Article 9 of the Apostolic Letter Competentias quasdam decernere modified Canon 1308 of the Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church (CIC 1983) and Canon 1052 §1 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO), which refers to such type of Mass obligation. The change decentralised the authority to reduce the obligations of the Masses, i.e., transferring the authority to reduce the Mass obligations from the Holy See to diocesan Bishops and the Supreme Moderators of clerical institutes of consecrated life (religious and secular institutes) and the Society of Apostolic Life.

The revision specifically updated the law in the following ways: the reduction of Mass obligations for a just and necessary cause is no longer reserved to the Holy See; it is now decentralised to diocesan Bishops (for their territories) and Supreme Moderators (for clerical religious institutes, clerical secular institutes or clerical societies of apostolic life), both of the Pontifical and Diocesan right.

According to the revised Canon 1308 §1, only diocesan Bishops or Supreme Moderators of clerical institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life possess the authority to reduce Mass obligations. It is essential to note that Provincials do not have the authority to lessen these Mass obligations. Likewise, the Supreme Moderators of non-clerical religious institutes, secular institutes, and societies of apostolic life are also unable to make such reductions.

Old Canon 1308 prescribed: “§1. A reduction of the obligations of Masses, to be made only for a just and necessary cause, is reserved to the Apostolic See, without prejudice to the following prescripts.”

The revised Canon 1308 §1 prescribes: “A reduction of the obligations of Masses, to be made only for a just and necessary cause, is reserved to the diocesan Bishop and to the supreme Moderator of a clerical institute of consecrated life or a society of apostolic life.”

According to the old Canon 1308 §1 (1983), the Apostolic See was generally responsible for this reduction. Based on the old canon, the Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus (1988) prescribed that the responsibility for these reductions depended on the Dicastery for the Clergy (external forum) in the Apostolic See if the reduction is requested by a juridical entity (e.g., the diocesan Curia, the Seminary, School, hospital, etc.) due to the restriction enshrined in paragraph one of the old canon. However, the new Motu proprio Competentias quasdam decernere (February 2022) attributes the right of reduction in the revised Canon 1308 §1 to diocesan Bishops and the supreme Moderators of religious institutes, secular institutes or societies of apostolic life. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium (March 2022), the latest norms governing the Roman Curia, does not address the need to approach the Dicastery following this change in the revised canon.

What does it mean? Imagine a pastor comes to a new parish and finds that the parish records are completely disorganised. He may discover that the parish has accepted the obligation to offer hundreds of Masses for various intentions and has not kept track of what the intentions are, who the donors are, what amount was offered, etc. Until before the modification, only the Holy See could reduce the number of parish Mass obligations and fix the situation in that disorganised parish.

The new law, in accordance with the authority of the diocesan Bishop, allows him to reduce the obligation of the Mass, so that the parish priest can, for example, offer one holy Mass, or even a dozen, for all intentions previously accepted in the parish.

In accordance with the old Canon 1308 §1, the reduction of Mass obligations to be made only for a just and necessary reason, was reserved to the Apostolic See. Therefore, when a priest seeks dispensation or reduction of an obligation he personally owes (not those masses accepted by the parish/institute/society as mentioned above), he should approach the Apostolic Penitentiary in the internal forum. In this regard, the Major Penitentiary will inform the Holy Father, who, if necessary, will apply the superabundant merits of Christ and the Saints to the case (thesaurus Ecclesiae).

In response to inquiries on the matter, it is clarified that Pope Francis, during the audience granted to the Major Penitentiary on March 3, 2022, confirmed the established practice regarding the internal forum: if a priest has personally (not in the name of a parish/institute/society) received a certain number of Mass intentions but is unable to celebrate them, he shall, through his confessor, petition the Apostolic Penitentiary, which will take appropriate action after evaluating the request based on the information received.

The Major Penitentiary will inform the Holy Father during a private audience of any cases involving a reduction of Mass obligations. Therefore, even after the Motu Proprio Competentias quasdam decernere, it remains possible to contact the Apostolic Penitentiary to request a reduction of the obligations associated with holy Masses personally accepted by priests.

It is also important to note that for the reduction of Mass obligations, a “just and necessary cause” is required. Mere convenience is never a sufficient cause. The expression would appear to require a greater justification than the more frequently occurring expressions “just cause” or “just reasonable cause”.

(Fr Merlin Ambrose, a priest of the Diocese of Kottar, is the Director of the Centre of Canon Law at St Peter’s Pontifical Institute, Bangalore and Executive Secretary of the Commission for Canon Law in the CCBI)

Blurbs

The new law allows the Bishop to reduce the obligation of the Mass so that the parish priest can, for example, offer one holy Mass, or even a dozen, for all intentions previously accepted in the parish.

It is important to note that for the reduction of Mass obligations, a “just and necessary cause” is required. Mere convenience is never a sufficient cause.