Deacons and transubstantiation

[praestat_fides]

Hello everyone,

I know that deacons are not permitted to celebrate mass the way a priest can. However, are there any types of emergency situations where this rule can be broken? I ask because my girlfriend was at mass a few weeks ago and she swears that she saw a deacon who celebrated the entire mass…including the consecration! Is this possible?

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Hello everyone,

I know that deacons are not permitted to celebrate mass the way a priest can. However, are there any types of emergency situations where this rule can be broken? I ask because my girlfriend was at mass a few weeks ago and she swears that she saw a deacon who celebrated the entire mass…including the consecration! Is this possible?

Is it possible that she attended a Liturgy of the Word with Holy Communion and not a Mass? The two are similar, and a deacon may preside at the former.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

A deacon cannot celebrate a Mass without a priest. In some cases, a deacon can lead a communion service and distribute hosts previously consecrated by a priest at Mass.

 

[FrDavid96]

Hello everyone,

I know that deacons are not permitted to celebrate mass the way a priest can. However, are there any types of emergency situations where this rule can be broken? I ask because my girlfriend was at mass a few weeks ago and she swears that she saw a deacon who celebrated the entire mass…including the consecration! Is this possible?

No.

Because it isn’t just some “rule” that can be broken, or even changed.

It’s not possible for anyone other than a validly ordained priest to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass.

 

[Nelka]

I went once before where the Deacon was the only one there, I think the Communion was already consecrated as there was no Eucharistic prayer.

 

[paperwight66]

I went once before where the Deacon was the only one there, I think the Communion was already consecrated as there was no Eucharistic prayer.

You can be sure it was.

 

[thistle]

Hello everyone,

I know that deacons are not permitted to celebrate mass the way a priest can. However, are there any types of emergency situations where this rule can be broken? I ask because my girlfriend was at mass a few weeks ago and she swears that she saw a deacon who celebrated the entire mass…including the consecration! Is this possible?

No priest. No Mass.

It might have been a Communion Service your friend attended.

 

[Solomonson]

As others here have noted, no way. A communion service on the other hand can be conducted by any Catholic layperson who is prepared to receive communion, should the legitimate need arise.

 

[commenter]

As others here have noted, no way. A communion service on the other hand can be conducted by any Catholic layperson who is prepared to receive communion, should the legitimate need arise.

I assume that a priest, with proper faculties from the local bishop, can celebrate a public or private Mass any time he wants. But I think a deacon or layperson can lead a communion service only with permission of the local pastor or the diocese. For instance, the parish may schedule a weekday communion service at 9 AM, but a lay person can’t initiate a communion service on their own.

It is getting tricky in my diocese, as some parishes are now “led” by a deacon or woman religious. There would be, somewhere off site, a canonical administrator (?) or some equivalent, a priest who represents the diocese in oversight of the parish, who may or may not be the “sacramental minister” priest who comes in only to celebrate Mass and sacraments. Since the deacon is an Ordinary Minister of Communion, if he has permission to work in a parish I assume he is delegated to schedule communion services as needed.

I guess the question comes up as a matter of prudence; it’s one thing to schedule a communion service at parish A, when there is no Mass offered at that time within 10 miles, but it is another thing to schedule one here, when parish B has Mass, same time a few blocks away.

 

[FrDavid96]

I assume that a priest, with proper faculties from the local bishop, can celebrate a public or private Mass any time he wants. But I think a deacon or layperson can lead a communion service only with permission of the local pastor or the diocese. For instance, the parish may schedule a weekday communion service at 9 AM, but a lay person can’t initiate a communion service on their own.

It is getting tricky in my diocese, as some parishes are now “led” by a deacon or woman religious. There would be, somewhere off site, a canonical administrator (?) or some equivalent, a priest who represents the diocese in oversight of the parish, who may or may not be the “sacramental minister” priest who comes in only to celebrate Mass and sacraments. Since the deacon is an Ordinary Minister of Communion, if he has permission to work in a parish I assume he is delegated to schedule communion services as needed.

I guess the question comes up as a matter of prudence; it’s one thing to schedule a communion service at parish A, when there is no Mass offered at that time within 10 miles, but it is another thing to schedule one here, when parish B has Mass, same time a few blocks away.

There are 2 “forms” of services that are relevant.

1. A service of distributing Holy Communion can actually be done by a deacon at any time. He is, after all, an ordinary minister of Holy Communion.
2. “Sunday Celebration in the Absence of a Priest” is a specific service that’s designed to be done when a priest is unavailable. This requires the permission of the local bishop (who can delegate this to pastors or even to deacons themselves). Use of this is restricted to Sundays (and maybe, Holy Days), but is not permitted on weekdays.

The official norms & laws of the Church are a bit ambiguous, and almost self-contradictory.

Again, a Deacon can do a “Communion Service” at any reasonable time. There is even an official ritual for this. It’s called “Distribution of Holy Communion Outside of Mass” (or something close, as I’m going by memory here). It has the full approval of the Holy See.

On the other hand, services that are intended to be a substitute (so-called) for Mass, whether that’s a Sunday or a weekday, requires the bishop’s permission and there are restrictions, such as that the bishop is not to grant approval if there is a nearby Mass available or if a Sunday Mass is available within about a week (the wording is non-specific).

So again, there’s a bit of a conflict. A deacon cannot do a Communion service on a weekday as a substitute for Mass if the pastor has to be away for a meeting. But at the same time, the Deacon (as Ordinary Minister) can do the specific ritual of Holy Communion Outside of Mass at any reasonable time.

The bottom line is that these conflicts have to be resolved by the local bishop by either publishing norms, or dealing with individual circumstances. The bishop cannot act contrary to the law, so he cannot give permission for SCAP on the same day that a Mass is available (just for example), he still has to make his decisions within what the law allows.