Can I attend an Orthodox service in lieu of an Army Mass?

[A.Pelliccio]

I am being deployed to the Balkans. They do offer a Catholic Mass on post. The problem is the Mass offered on post is garbage. It is full of abuses and on the fringe with it comes to liturgical orthodoxy. Kosovo is not a Catholic area. The major Christian denomination is the Orthodox. My question is, if I can not find a Mass off post, and the Mass on post is full of abuses, would it be OK to attend an Orthodox service to fulfill my Sunday obligation?

SPC Anthony
US Army

 

[Jim_Blackburn]

Your Sunday obligation can only be fulfilled at a Catholic Mass. Code of Canon Law (CIC) states, “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass… A person who assists at a Mass celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the feast day itself or in the evening of the preceding day satisfies the obligation of participating in the Mass” (CIC 1247-1248).

A person is excused from this obligation if participation becomes impossible because of the absence of a priest or “for another grave cause” (CIC 1248.2). To my knowledge, liturgical abuse does not constitute a grave cause.

I recommend reviewing the Remedies chapter of Redemptionis Sacramentum for instruction on how to go about correcting liturgical abuses.