Bishop cancelled public Mass but priest still celebrating. Can I attend?

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So the bishop of my diocese recently cancelled public Masses due to the Coronavirus (until the day AFTER the first Friday of the month, so no Sacred Heart devotion for April). However, a local priest has told his congregation that he will be celebrating “private” Mass in the church and if anyone happens to be there at such and such time, well, he’ll just have to distribute the Eucharist.
Would this constitute disobedience to the bishop / can I attend these Masses without undermining the bishop’s authority?
 
That does sound like disobedience. In our diocese the bishop has given direction that the priest will have private masses, and a private mass can have up to nine attendees. The attendees must be by invitation of the priest, and he is not allowed to publicize the time of the mass because they do not want more than nine people at the mass.
 
The intention is to prevent the spread of the virus. I suggest you abide by the Bishop’s request.
 
trel said:
he will be celebrating “private” Mass in the church
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trel said:
Would this constitute disobedience to the bishop / can I attend these Masses without undermining the bishop’s authority?
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Not if he has the bishops approval. Many bishops are allowing private Masses.

You could always ask the priest or the bishop
 
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Yes, that would constitute disobedience. Particularly on the priest’s part.
 
There is a lot of this going around from what I hear. Loopholes, etc.

There are priests (Not necessarily in any diocese I frequent) who feel very strongly that we need Mass and the Eucharist right now more than ever. There are also those in the Catholic church who are questioning why we cannot have Mass while the beer distributors are considered “life sustaining businesses” and allowed to stay open.

It is up to you and your own conscience. Decide for yourself, taking all factors into account. If you do not feel comfortable deciding, then you should probably come down on the side of not going.

Whatever you decide, I would also suggest that you not inform others about any such Masses, in order to not bring a crowd to the church.
 
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I think it would be disobeying the Bishop, and potentially also the authorities if there are too many people present.
 
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For those who lack prudence; who are not concerned about the risk; who apparently don’t mind infecting others, sure, it’s fine.

It is not business as usual.
 
Just because a mass is offered, grace is communicated to the whole world; the priest offering it, those for whom the priest is offering it, those hearing it, and everyone else in the world.

Obviously, each category of person is going to receive the grace of that mass differently, but grace is communicated, nonetheless. This is true even when the priest is offering the mass privately.

I believe it would be beneficial if we could all unite ourselves and our intentions to our parish priests as they offer their masses privately. Perhaps we would receive grace from those particular masses to a greater extent if we did this.
 
Even if you feel as though you’re a healthy young individual, think of the priest as a valuable resource that should be protected. He is exposed to a ton of people.
 
Most of the priests in parishes will be saying private Masses. I think this priest is being disobedient to his bishop, and I would not be party to that. All of us will miss going to Mass, however we must be obedient to our bishops.
 
This priest is totally irresponsible. There is a good reason why virtually all Christian churches and other religious communities are suspending public worship. It sounds like the priest is basically trying to circumvent the measures in place.
LouLouTyson said:
I would go in a heartbeat.
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Why? Are you completely unaware of what is going on in the world right now? We are currently experiencing the most challenging global crisis since the Second World War. That’s according to Angela Merkel for one. The US federal government has declared a national emergency, the border with Canada has been closed, entire cities are living under shelter-in-place orders. In Europe, whole countries are locked down, and the EU border, as well as national borders, have been sealed. In the UK, 20,000 troops stand ready to deal with the crisis, factories are being requisitioned to produce ventilators and hand sanitizer, and elections have been postponed until next year. On the other side of the world, New Zealand has just closed its borders and prohibited large gatherings of people. Around the world, people are stockpiling goods in case of lengthy periods of isolation or disruption to supplies.

Leaders of all religions have suspended public worship for the foreseeable future. They have done this for a very good reason: to try to limit the spread of the virus. Why would you want to try to undermine that?

Please think about the people who are not able to stay at home. Think about the doctors, nurses, police officers, military personnel, the people who provide essential services like grocery stores. Do you want to go to Mass, contract the virus, and infect one of these people? Do you want to get sick and have to use already dangerously overstretched resources?

It’s very easy to say that you’d circumvent restrictions on public gatherings “in a heartbeat”, but if everyone took that attitude the consequences would be devastating.
 
If you are feeling good and are able, offer to do a grocery shopping for him or pick up his prescription medications.
 
My priest specifically told everyone in his letter he sent that he didn’t want people asking to join him so that he could stay obedient to the bishop. Since he is supposed to be saying private masses he didn’t want to allow people in even if he did happen to count heads and keep everyone X-Ray apart from one another.
 
I have allergies asthma and a heart condition. I have been on prednisone three times this year. I look healthy when the asthma is not flaring.
I could catch this nastiness and die from somebody who is a carrier and has no symptoms giving me their shopping cart in the parking lot ; touching the handle after they did.
Do I miss mass absolutely. I cry when I can’t go to mass.Do I understand other people missing it yes but if your Bishop has said no mass for a few weeks listen to him. You will be saving lives
 
Bishop Barron is streaming his private mass every day to his YouTube. Might I suggest watching that and making an act of spiritual communion instead?
 
1ke said:
That does sound like disobedience. In our diocese the bishop has given direction that the priest will have private masses, and a private mass can have up to nine attendees. The attendees must be by invitation of the priest, and he is not allowed to publicize the time of the mass because they do not want more than nine people at the mass.
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What exactly is a “private Mass” in Canon Law?

I have to admit I’m on the fence as regards this issue.

Some churches in my Diocese have capacity over 1000, and average under 50 on a given Mass on Sunday.
 
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