Priests traveling and faculties

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agapewolf

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I had an interesting conversation with a priest friend of mine. He was talking about how he debates himself on whether to wear black/collar when he travels.

He said that he doesn’t ever mind the conversations that come up, but he’s put on the spot when someone asks him to hear confession, because when a priest is not in his own diocese, they do not have faculties to perform the sacraments. (I know that Bishops must give permission when their priest travels to a different diocese to participate in a religious conference mass, etc). He doesn’t want to turn down confessions, but does not want to do anything illicit.

Now, I realize that in a serious situation, or close to death, that doesn’t matter. Also, he mentioned that the rule isn’t the same when a priest is leading a pilgrimage, because in a way, he’s with his own people from his diocese serving them.
 
Thank you for that.

I wonder though, why a priest needs permission to celebrate mass then?
 
agapewolf said:
Thank you for that.

I wonder though, why a priest needs permission to celebrate mass then?
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I don’t think the priest does need permission to celebrate Mass. He needs the permission of the pastor of a parish in order to celebrate Mass in that parish church. For example, if a priest from another diocese (or even parish) came to celebrate a wedding or funeral Mass, he would need the pastor’s permission.
 
babochka said:
I don’t think the priest does need permission to celebrate Mass. He needs the permission of the pastor of a parish in order to celebrate Mass in that parish church. For example, if a priest from another diocese (or even parish) came to celebrate a wedding or funeral Mass, he would need the pastor’s permission.
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And, of course, if he’s preaching, then the bishop should know about and approve of it. The permission is a way of ensuring that the bishop knows what’s going on in his diocese.
 
Gorgias said:
And, of course, if he’s preaching, then the bishop should know about and approve of it. The permission is a way of ensuring that the bishop knows what’s going on in his diocese.
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That might be ideal, but I think that function is delegated to the pastor. I don’t think that the Bishop has time to personally deal with every priest (or preaching Deacon) who flies into his diocese for a funeral on 2 days notice.
 
babochka said:
I don’t think the priest does need permission to celebrate Mass. He needs the permission of the pastor of a parish in order to celebrate Mass in that parish church. For example, if a priest from another diocese (or even parish) came to celebrate a wedding or funeral Mass, he would need the pastor’s permission.
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Yes they do. Every time there is a conference of some kind in our city, any priest that comes has to bring a form in saying he’s in good standing in his diocese, and has permission.

For example, St. Louis diocese hosts the Steubenville conference, yet the best venue we can find is actually in another diocese. This is the form that has to be filled out

stlyouth.org/sites/stlyouth.org/files/Priestly%20Ministry%20Certificate%20-%20Springfield-Cape.pdf
 
Actually it does make sense, I learned recently that when the priest breaks the host he puts a tiny piece in the chalice. This custom comes from old time when the Bishop would send a piece of the host he had consacrated to the churches bellow him and the priests would then mingle it with theirs to simbolize the union with the Bishop.
The Bishops today are the Apostles. They are the ones who have the authority in the Church.
Priests and Deacons have been chosen to act on behalf of the Bishop because clearly he could not serve a large community like we have in today’s Church.
I guess this was started early when the Church began to grow and there was the need to be able to provide the sacraments to the faithfull if the Bishop was not reachable, hence this system was devised.
 
agapewolf said:
Yes they do. Every time there is a conference of some kind in our city, any priest that comes has to bring a form in saying he’s in good standing in his diocese, and has permission.

For example, St. Louis diocese hosts the Steubenville conference, yet the best venue we can find is actually in another diocese. This is the form that has to be filled out

stlyouth.org/sites/stlyouth.org/files/Priestly%20Ministry%20Certificate%20-%20Springfield-Cape.pdf
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The priest in his parrish has the authority to celebrate up to 2 masses daily and does not need permission.
However if he needs to say a 3rd mass he needs the pernission of the Bishop. 👍
 
JerryZ said:
The priest in his parrish has the authority to celebrate up to 2 masses daily and does not need permission.
However if he needs to say a 3rd mass he needs the pernission of the Bishop. 👍
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uh, this has nothing to do with what I’m talking about.
 
agapewolf said:
Yes they do. Every time there is a conference of some kind in our city, any priest that comes has to bring a form in saying he’s in good standing in his diocese, and has permission.

For example, St. Louis diocese hosts the Steubenville conference, yet the best venue we can find is actually in another diocese. This is the form that has to be filled out

stlyouth.org/sites/stlyouth.org/files/Priestly%20Ministry%20Certificate%20-%20Springfield-Cape.pdf
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This form says that he has permission to “pursue pastoral ministry” in another diocese. It looks like it is a form to protect the receiving diocese or entity that is holding the conference. Priests travel all the time and celebrate Mass in other diocese all the time. They are issued an identification card of sorts from their Bishop, which states that they are priests in good standing, with faculties. Generally, this is all that is required, and sometimes only if it is in question.
 
babochka said:
That might be ideal, but I think that function is delegated to the pastor. I don’t think that the Bishop has time to personally deal with every priest (or preaching Deacon) who flies into his diocese for a funeral on 2 days notice.
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A couple of our Deacons are snow birds, and are required to have a letter from the Bishop in order to assist at Mass.

Now, of course, it probably isn’t the Bishop personally making the decision, but maybe a designate of the Bishop. Say, a Chancellor.
 
I think we’re dealing with 2 separate issues here:

First, does a priest traveling outside his own diocese need his own Bishop’s permission to celebrate Mass outside of the diocese. Is that separate from the faculties he has already been granted? It is my understanding from my own priest (we have had a discussion about this), that priests have an id card issued from their home diocese stating that they are priests in good standing, with faculties to celebrate Mass.

Second, does a priest traveling outside his own diocese need permission from the Bishop in the diocese that he is visiting in order to celebrate Mass? I know that it is the responsibility of the pastor to ascertain that a visiting priest is a priest in good standing. I have no idea whether the Bishop technically gives permission, but I do think that it is a bit impractical to think that he gives permission every time. For example, last year we had a death in the family. The death occurred on a Thursday and the funeral was on Monday morning. Travel arrangements were made over the weekend, and the priest flew in from another diocese on Sunday evening. The funeral arrangements were made through the pastor of the parish. I don’t really think that the Bishop is personally contacted in every such event. My own priest told me a story of a time that he was traveling. He showed up at the parish and asked if he could concelebrate the Mass that morning. He showed his documents and was able to concelebrate. Perhaps the Bishop simply gives instructions to each pastor as to how these situations are handled and that constitutes permission?

Edit: I just looked it up. The document that priest have is called a “celebret”.

2nd Edit: Since I was looking things up, I might as well look up canon law on the matter.
an. 900 §1 The only minister who, in the person of Christ, can bring into being the sacrament of the Eucharist, is a validly ordained priest.
§2 Any priest who is not debarred by canon law may lawfully celebrate the Eucharist, provided the provisions of the following canons are observed.
Can. 901 A priest is entitled to offer Mass for anyone, living or dead.
Can. 902 Unless the benefit of Christ’s faithful requires or suggests otherwise, priests may concelebrate the Eucharist; they are, however, fully entitled to celebrate the Eucharist individually, but not while a celebration is taking place in the same church or oratory.
Can. 903 A priest is to be permitted to celebrate the Eucharist, even if he is not known to the rector of the church, provided either that he presents commendatory letters, not more than a year old, from his own Ordinary or Superior, or that it can be prudently judged that he is not debarred from celebrating.
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twopekinguys said:
A couple of our Deacons are snow birds, and are required to have a letter from the Bishop in order to assist at Mass.

Now, of course, it probably isn’t the Bishop personally making the decision, but maybe a designate of the Bishop. Say, a Chancellor.
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Yes, but do they need a letter from the Bishop for each and every occasion for each diocese that they visit, or do they simply have a letter stating that they are Deacons in good standing?
 
babochka said:
Yes, but do they need a letter from the Bishop for each and every occasion for each diocese that they visit, or do they simply have a letter stating that they are Deacons in good standing?
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They go to the same place every year, so it is only one other diocese. They do need a new letter every year though.
 
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