Attending Sunday Mass at person's house?

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Sir_Knight

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Does attending Sunday Mass at a person’s home fulfill the Sunday obligation?
 
Um, is an ordained priest of the Catholic Church offering the Mass? If there is no priest, there can be no Mass, no matter where the setting. If there is a priest, an altar of sorts, the bread and wine, the readings from Sacred Scripture, and the prayers of the Mass, then Mass can be offered nearly any place on earth. I remember reading about imprisoned Catholic priests in communist countries who were sometimes able to do the Consecration in their cells!
 
Sir_Knight said:
Does attending Sunday Mass at a person’s home fulfill the Sunday obligation?
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Yes it does. We had the Sunday Mass celebrated at home when we had a family reunion. It was actually celebrated in an old barn where all the festivities were taking place. There was a retired priest in the area who was only too happy to join families who wanted to celebrate Mass together on these kinds of occasions.
 
Although this is an unusual situation, attending Mass anywhere with a validly ordained priest on a Sunday (or Saturday vigil) would satisfy your obligation. Now normally, a priest would need permission from a bishop to offer a Mass in a private home, but this just sounds like you’d be sitting in on his private Mass. A priest can say Mass privately anywhere he likes (although a church is preferable).
 
1ke said:
If the priest has permission from the Bishop of the Diocese to say masses in that diocese, then yes.
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On a side note (since I’m the one who started this thread), does that imply that a traveling priest needs permission from the local Bishop to administer the sacraments?

I’m thinking, for example, if a priest on the road and not within his Diocese witnessed an accident and saw someone dying, could he administer the last rites if the person asked for them or would that be invalid without permission from the local bishop? What about confession under similar circumstances?
 
Sir_Knight said:
On a side note (since I’m the one who started this thread), does that imply that a traveling priest needs permission from the local Bishop to administer the sacraments?

I’m thinking, for example, if a priest on the road and not within his Diocese witnessed an accident and saw someone dying, could he administer the last rites if the person asked for them or would that be invalid without permission from the local bishop? What about confession under similar circumstances?
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Certainly he could, and I would think he would be morally obligated to do so.
 
While sitting in on a discussion of the Priesthood the other day, I believe the good Father mentioned that, in the older days one would need permission to perform their Priestly duty outside of their own dioceses, even if they wanted to cross Diocesian lines to hear confession. I believe he stated, that in these days, the permission is held to be universal in any diocese if they have valid faculties in a diocese.
I could have misunderstood him though.
 
Sir_Knight said:
On a side note (since I’m the one who started this thread), does that imply that a traveling priest needs permission from the local Bishop to administer the sacraments?

Yes, generally the bishop of diocese grants the faculties to celebrate Mass and the sacraments to a priest who comes into his diocese. If they are transient, that generally doesn’t include the faculty to witness marriages because that involves the State (at least in North America) and, in my diocese, the priest has to put in a request for the bishop to apply for the licence from the province.

I’m thinking, for example, if a priest on the road and not within his Diocese witnessed an accident and saw someone dying, could he administer the last rites if the person asked for them or would that be invalid without permission from the local bishop? What about confession under similar circumstances?
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In that case, even a laicized priest would have a duty to hear the person’s confession.
 
Sir_Knight said:
On a side note (since I’m the one who started this thread), does that imply that a traveling priest needs permission from the local Bishop to administer the sacraments?
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That depends, canon law has specific requirements for each Sacrament.
Sir_Knight said:
I’m thinking, for example, if a priest on the road and not within his Diocese witnessed an accident and saw someone dying, could he administer the last rites if the person asked for them or would that be invalid without permission from the local bishop?
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Can. 1003 §1. Every priest and a priest alone validly administers the anointing of the sick.

§2. All priests to whom the care of souls has been entrusted have the duty and right of administering the anointing of the sick for the faithful entrusted to their pastoral office. For a reasonable cause, any other priest can administer this sacrament with at least the presumed consent of the priest mentioned above.

§3. Any priest is permitted to carry blessed oil with him so that he is able to administer the sacrament of the anointing of the sick in a case of necessity.
Sir_Knight said:
What about confession under similar circumstances?
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Can. 976 Even though a priest lacks the faculty to hear confessions, he absolves validly and licitly any penitents whatsoever in danger of death from any censures and sins, even if an approved priest is present.
 
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