Putting Altar Rails back into a Church

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If a parrish wanted to put altar rails back into the church would it have to get permission from the local bishop?

Would such permission be hard to get?
 
I believe any renovation to a church needs permission from the bishop, no matter what you are putting in or taking out. The diocese after all owns the churches and the bishop is the guy in charge.

It will vary from bishop to bishop on how easy or hard it is to get approval for anything.
 
In my diocese, any renovation or purchase over 2,000 dollars has to be reported to the bishop. I’m sure the institution of such a large scale project would have to wait until notice was given to the bishop.
 
I think that if you still have the original altar rails, there should be no problem putting them back in with just the pastor’s permission. A parish I go to occasionally did this.

If you don’t have them, then that’s another scenario.
 
Jerry-Jet said:
If a parrish wanted to put altar rails back into the church would it have to get permission from the local bishop?

Would such permission be hard to get?
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By including the word back into the question, the OP seems to assume that altar rails were once in the church in the first place. Does he/she mean to make a distinction between older churches that once included them and newer churches that have never had them? :confused:

In any event, in most dioceses pastors are expected to report renovations and remodeling to the appropriate diocesan office. I do, however, know of one pastor in my former diocese who added altar rails where they had never existed, without ever reporting it to the bishop or anyone at the chancery. 👍
 
Jerry-Jet said:
If a parrish wanted to put altar rails back into the church would it have to get permission from the local bishop?

Would such permission be hard to get?
Click to expand...
they would have to get permission for any church renovation or even repair. as to hard? depends on the bishop, and the plans for the reno
 
Jerry-Jet said:
If a parrish wanted to put altar rails back into the church would it have to get permission from the local bishop?

Would such permission be hard to get?
Click to expand...
Depends on the bishop. Mine and some others would give it in a heartbeat.
 
It also may depend on what kind of altar rails are you talking about. If they were like the ones in the old days that were large and heavy, I think the Bishop would need to be involved.

If it were something simple that can easily be removed, that would probably be no big deal.
 
I asked the question not because of the physical logistics of the altar rails but the theological significance of them.

I know it would never happen but hypothetically if the USCCB was asked by the pope to vote in a secret ballot whether all Catholic churches in the US should have altar rails or not have them–what would the vote be? Would anyone want to speculate?

How many American bishops would be theologically opposed to altar rails and how many would theologically endorse them?
 
Jerry-Jet said:
I know it would never happen but hypothetically if the USCCB was asked by the pope to vote in a secret ballot whether all Catholic churches in the US should have altar rails or not have them–what would the vote be? Would anyone want to speculate?
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Right now, I’d say the overwhelming result would be no altar rails, but in the near future with the new breed of “Benedict Bishops,” that will probably be changing.

I mean seriously, something like what Bishop Slattery has done (celebrating all cathedral Masses Ad-orientem) or other bishops (celebrating public EF pontifical Solemn Masses in their cathedrals) would have been unheard of 10 years ago.
 
In the 1990’s, the now-retired Archbishop of Vancouver, BC, Adam Exner, had communion rails installed inside Holy Rosary Cathedral, and they are still in use every Sunday.
 
Cavaille-Coll said:
In the 1990’s, the now-retired Archbishop of Vancouver, BC, Adam Exner, had communion rails installed inside Holy Rosary Cathedral, and they are still in use every Sunday.
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This is true. Vancouver’s cathedral celebrates four masses daily Monday to Saturday and seven on Sunday… all very well attended… and a tall masses, daily or Sunday, a very substantial portion of the faithful elect to receive Our Lord kneeling at the altar rail. There are several other parishes in the archdiocese where the altar rail is also used. In this archdiocese, it is left to the discretion of the pastor. A few pastors insist on kneeling at the altar rail even for the OF… of course this is a given at the couple parishes that offer the EF.
 
The Mc said:
Right now, I’d say the overwhelming result would be no altar rails, but in the near future with the new breed of “Benedict Bishops,” that will probably be changing.

I mean seriously, something like what Bishop Slattery has done (celebrating all cathedral Masses Ad-orientem) or other bishops (celebrating public EF pontifical Solemn Masses in their cathedrals) would have been unheard of 10 years ago.
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👍 I hear every word.

I’d want to hear a brilliant reason why the clergy decided to remove Altar Rails etc in the Church when the Novus Ordo began? Nothing was ever officially dictated or sanctioned by the Holy See back in the mid 1960’s as to why they were removed in numerous existing Catholic Churches.

Was it whimsical fancy? Good Gosh I surely don’t know. Surely Modernistic architectural flare had something to do with it. When the Altar Rails went so did Reverence of the Holy Ground on the Sanctuary and around the Tabernacle and there on the Altar at Mass ((“IS”)) the Eucharistic Burning Bush.

Book Of Exodus Chapter 3: 2-5
drbo.org/chapter/02003.htm
[2] And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt. [3] And Moses said: I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. [4] And when the Lord saw that he went forward to see, he called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said: Moses, Moses. And he answered: Here I am. [5] And he said: Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
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Acts of the Apostles Chapter 7: 33
drbo.org/chapter/51007.htm
[31] And Moses seeing it, wondered at the sight. And as he drew near to view it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying: [32] I am the God of thy fathers; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses being terrified, durst not behold. [33] And the Lord said to him: Loose the shoes from thy feet, for the place wherein thou standest, is holy ground.
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A few months aqgo, the origin of both the Atlar Rail and the eaten Iconostasis came up Qin a homily.

In the early church, poor people broughht their animals with them; loss or that of thorny cow (or whatever) could be life-threatening.

The early low barrier thT evolved into the western altar rail and eastern iconostasis was to keep the animals out f the sanctuary! :eek:

hawk
 
I don’t see why you’d want them back in. Very few parishes ever use them any more, and even the old buildings that have them, they are rarely used (except in the most traditional churches that want to pretend Vatican II didn’t change the Mass around). Even the Cathedral here in town doesn’t use their communion rail for anything other than a security system (like literally horns and buzzers. They even have a sign saying an alarm will go off of you open the rail and enter the sanctuary). I don’t think parishes will ever go back to using the communion rail again. We’re 2 generations removed from it’s use. Plus, the way modern churches are built, there’s no way you’d be able to realistically re-install them in a new building.
 
TheMc said:
Right now, I’d say the overwhelming result would be no altar rails, but in the near future with the new breed of “Benedict Bishops,” that will probably be changing.

I mean seriously, something like what Bishop Slattery has done (celebrating all cathedral Masses Ad-orientem) or other bishops (celebrating public EF pontifical Solemn Masses in their cathedrals) would have been unheard of 10 years ago.
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On this point I disagree. I think there might be a good chance that they would vote for altar rails.

After all, some of their recent votes have been positive; they voted in favor of the new translation, the elected Abp. Dolan as president, and they’ve had a bit more backbone in dealing with the government. So I think if such a vote were held today,it might actually pass. Not by the widest of margins, and there would be a few holdouts, but its not unrealistic.

Unfortunately, due to financial concerns, it would likely be a vote that only Churches built in the future need have altar rails.
 
Jerry-Jet said:
If a parrish wanted to put altar rails back into the church would it have to get permission from the local bishop?

Would such permission be hard to get?
Click to expand...
It would be nice if they put in the old fashioned Rood Screen:

 
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