No Human has the Power to Dispense from Divine Law?

[BlueMantle]

Thank you for your responses. I understand better now the difference between ecclesial and Divine Law. However, are there any limits on the authority of a bishop to dispense with obligation for Mass? What if the bishops never make Mass obligatory again? Can they do that?

 

[porthos11]

It is divine law to keep holy the Lord’s day. That this is ordinarily done by attending Mass on that day or the evening before is ecclesiastical law. Our bishops have dispensed us from attending Mass on Sundays, but we still have a God-given obligation to keep Sunday holy, something no bishop can dispense from. In the absence of a law substituting for Mass, it is up to the individual or family to determine how to do this. This can be done by uniting oneself to the Masses being celebrated, or family prayer, family reading of the Scriptures or individual Lectio Divina, praying the Rosary or the Liturgy of the Hours, etc.

The conclusion that “Cardinal Burke…said that bishops do NOT have the right to dispense the faithful from their…obligation to attend Mass on Sundays” is a bit of a jump.

 

[porthos11]

Wait, run that by me again. We have a non-binding obligation??? In the words of Dr Spock, “that is completely illogical, Jim.”

MISTER Spock, i.e. Commander.

DOCTOR (Benjamin) Spock was a real-life pediatrician, and incidentally, was 100% human, with no trace of Vulcan blood in him.

 

[Glennon_P]

MISTER Spock, i.e. Commander.

DOCTOR (Benjamin) Spock was a real-life pediatrician, and incidentally, was 100% human, with no trace of Vulcan blood in him.

…and as far as we know, Mr. Spock was not trained as a pediatrician.

 

[Bernoulli]

What if the bishops never make Mass obligatory again?

An individual bishop cannot do that, but the Pope can. Mass obligation is an universal law, and general dispensations granted by bishops are reviewed in Rome.

 

[acanonlawyer]

are there any limits on the authority of a bishop to dispense with obligation for Mass?

Yes. This, and any, “dispensation” requires at least a just and reasonable cause. If there is no just and reasonable cause, then a dispensation cannot be given.

What if the bishops never make Mass obligatory again? Can they do that?

A dispensation is designed to be a temporary measure and/or something that is possible to grant only in unusual circumstances that make the law too burdensome. Such circumstances could last for a long time, though. So, a bishop might dispense people for quite a while. Nevertheless, he couldn’t say “everyone in my territory is dispensed forever” because he can’t know when the just and reasonable cause (which makes the dispensation possible) will cease to exist.

Dan

 

[otjm]

During the present crisis, it has been said that Bishops dispense the faithful from the Sunday Mass obligation, but no human has the power to dispense from divine law . If it has been impossible, during the crisis, for the faithful to assist at Holy Mass, then the obligation did not bind them, but the obligation remained.”

As has been amply set out, attending Mass is ecclesial law.

As to the “but the obligation remained” should mean (and I presume the Cardinal meant) that the obligation was suspended, not obliterated.

The problem with the Cardinal weighing in is that a non-critical reader could take his statement to mean that the bishops who have suspended the obligation are wrong - and there are those who read non-critically - very small but exceedingly loud minority.

 

[felsguy]

MISTER Spock, i.e. Commander.

DOCTOR (Benjamin) Spock was a real-life pediatrician, and incidentally, was 100% human, with no trace of Vulcan blood in him.

porthos11:

MISTER Spock, i.e. Commander.

DOCTOR (Benjamin) Spock was a real-life pediatrician, and incidentally, was 100% human, with no trace of Vulcan blood in him.

…and as far as we know, Mr. Spock was not trained as a pediatrician.

Well, I’ll be. All this time I’ve been taking my kids to the wrong guy for their medical needs. His pointy ears and not ever wearing a white coat should have tipped me off. He did have this really neat gadget for healing cuts though. He must have borrowed it from McCoy

 

[Glennon_P]

Well, I’ll be. All this time I’ve been taking my kids to the wrong guy for their medical needs. His pointy ears and not ever wearing a white coat should have tipped me off. He did have this really neat gadget for healing cuts though.

I have visions of Dr. McCoy saying, “Dammit Jim, I’m an internist, not a pediatrician!”