Mass on the Moon - Which Bishop?

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Maximilian75

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In the Mass, after the Mysterium Fidei, the Missal says

“…Be Pleased to confirm in faith and charity
your pilgrim Church on earth, with your servant (n.) our pope, and (n.) our bishop…”

If, say, in a few decades, Mass was to be said on the Moon and there was no lunar diocese, which bishop would fil that gap?

TLDR - if a region does not have a bishop, whish bishop’s name, if any, is used in the Mass?
 
Whatever Bishop whose authority that particular celebrant of the Mass was under back on planet Earth.
 
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It is possible that the community could be directly under the control of the Holy See, that does happen.
 
I think @thelittlelady is right that a diocese would be established (or the territory of the moon would be included as part of an existing diocese). Until then, perhaps they would use the name of the bishop where the spacecraft was launched. For the US it would be the diocese where Cape Canaveral is located.
 
If and when colonies on the Moon are eventually established, would any prayers be changed to adapt to the planet or satellite? I first thought I’d try to make a little joke, but maybe it’s something to ponder. Like the Lord’s Pray, for example, would it be adapted to “on the Moon as it is in Heaven”? I know exactly what the Lord’s prayer means and means by that phrase, but what if there are established colonies that grow into larger populations of people that never were born on the Earth and see whatever particular planetary body ( or space station) they were born as the center of their human world? Some may see the Earth as just a mother colony or just one of many inhabited planets (who’s to know how humans will adventure in hundreds and thousands of years in the future)? Now I think I’m getting to be more serious. But say there 100 colonies established throughout space in every conceivable part of the universe, and those who are members of the Church, who may be confused whenever the Earth is mentioned in respect to the Sacred Scriptures and Traditions of the Church? Would the Church, Pope, bishops, and priests would have to clarify anything, reference anything, have disclaimers, such as stating that the Earth is the home planet, and “Earth” would mean the center of the universe for all human inhabitants everywhere? I know that the Truth is immutable, and not saying or even implying that scripture or tradition should be changed, but again, say a colony of humans has grown and established and advanced civilization in another part of the galaxy or another galaxy, and say thousands or tens of thousands of years in the future, and the only world they know is their own ( if they’ve even heard of the Earth, or if still even exists by that time), how would the The Church, Sacred Scripture, and Tradition be incorporated into such future societies? I’m not saying things should be changed, as the Church will always be as it is, but how would such future societies be made known that “Earth” is not now the only planet civilized by humans? I’m not trying to be funny here, but the more I think about it, I’d like to know.
 
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Sub-questions:
  1. Will the celebrant be able to …um… orient his altar in order to celebrate ad orientem?
  2. Will he be permitted to take “some nourishment” in order to sustain offering a “pure sacrifice from the rising of the sun to its setting”*, and how much homelitic padding is appropriate for this circumstance?
  3. What time is it on the moon? How will he know when to celebrate Christmas Vigil vs Christmas Mass During the Night vs Christmas Mass at Dawn vs Christmas Mass During the Day?
  4. For that matter, presuming our celebrant and his lunar colony are on the side of the moon facing Earth (for the facilitation of communications, et cetera), will he ever be able to celbrate the Easter Vigil Mass, which may not begin until dark?**
🤔
*
Recall the lunar day is approximately 2 weeks long, followed by lunar night approximately 2 weeks long
**
Presumably, he will be in sunlight on the Saturday preceding the first Sunday following the first full moon*** following the vernal equinox? (Unless “Moon Church Alpha” is located appropriately close to …um… the edge of the moon’s face, and sufficient time passes between the full moon and Saturday)
***
Or is it always a full moon on the moon?
 
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, of the archdiocese of US Military might be fitting.
 
The moon is very specifically not used for military purposes so I don’t think the military archdiocese would work.

The moon has an east and west just as the earth does so ad orientem wouldn’t be a problem. Many churches now don’t face east and west so ad orientem really concerns the direction of the priest and the people rather than an absolute direction.

I think the more interesting question is the one raised by @rasoleil about what happens when decades or centuries have gone by and the relationship to the earth has faded. What does the heavenly Jerusalem mean when it’s so completely foreign?’ What will bread and wine mean in such a synthetic environment?
 
No. It’s not military.

The opening paragraph of the Wikipedia article says,

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the Executive Branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program as well aeronatics and aerospace research.
 
The Church is not bound by the mission statement of NASA…if it were, by definition there could be no Mass said there…simple papal decree to change scope and or title of the Archbishop to include space.
 
The Church isn’t usually quite so tone deaf, either in calliing the moon a military site or in awarding its territory solely to the United States.
 
I guess Cardinal Burke might be an obvious choice - as he has pretty much already be sent there, maybe Mueller. Less travel time.
 
The moon would most likely be a mission territory for either the diocese in Houston (NASA headquarters), or the diocese from where the rocket launched. Eventually, the Vatican may grant it Mission Sui Generis status, a semi-autonous status for a mission serving an irregular population, and eventually given diocesan status if a permanent population were established
 
And what if bishops are made Cardinals ( could the Holy See exclude those not on the Earth) them from being Cardinals and what would be the situation when the time comes to elect a new Pope, and the Cardinals in colonies that would not be able to make it to the Vatican to elect the new Pope ( as they need to have a physical presence)? And having to go to the Vatican to be made Cardinal in the first place. And the problem would really arise if there would be case if there would be more Cardinals living off the Earth then no on it. And I don’t think it would be forbidden to exclude anyone from being Cardinal outside of the Earth, and I’m sure that the Church, in being "catholic, small ‘c’) and under Christ’s intentions, would not only limit Catholicism only to the Earth. I guess any colony outside the Earth would have some super warp speed, faster than light speed to make such a long journey, unless wormholes or discovered and use. Boy, I am really going out on a tangent. And this doesn’t include what would happen if the Earth, and the Vatican were hit by a massive asteroid and most life forms, including humans, would be eradicated. And since I don’t think that the Holy See has to be confined to the Vatican ( any issues, natural and man made can arise that could cause that ), and the Holy See is the Church, no matter where it is located right. Sorry for going on such a long tangent, but all sorts of possibilities can and may arise in thousands, tens of thousands, hundred of thousand, millions of years ( unless of course, Christ makes His Second Coming way before that) since. And on that note, say that mankind has populated many civilizations throughout the universe, how would the Second Coming actually take place is as we know now, the Second Coming is assumed ( as it has always been known) only occur on the Earth, our only home. If humanity even survives and thrives in space for so long a time, I’d think that the Second Coming would be for all humans anywhere. Boy, I’m thinking too much into this, huh? 🤔😀
 
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