Question missing mass when out of the country

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374mike

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Is it sinful to travel to a country for vacation when you know there may a chance that there may not be a chance to attend to mass? (You are not traveling to avoid mass).

There are many interesting places in the world that would be great to visit, but missing mass is a great dilemma.

The reason for not attending mass is that one does not available for several hundred miles.

Please don’t answer why would you want to visit one of those places.
 
I have never heard of an obligation to never travel x number of miles away from a catholic church. If you’re in a very remote location where traveling for mass is impossible or in an unfriendly country then I believe it is ok to miss mass.
 
There are churches in some pretty remote areas so it seems like there’s a good chance this wouldn’t be a problem.

However, two other thoughts come to mind. One is that we are not commanded to do what is impossible. So if you’re in a place where there really isn’t a church then there’s no obligation to attend Mass.

If it were me, though, I would ask my pastor for a dispensation from attending Mass during the time I was going to be away. Then I’d know I had done the right thing.
 
I received my First Holy Communion at a Catholic church in Laos. You’d be surprised where you will find a Catholic church! Remember that most areas colonized by the French, Spanish, or Portuguese (which covers a huge portion of the planet!) will still be nominally Catholic and with a bit of digging you can find a Church.

So please do a little research and see if you can adjust your plans a bit to accommodate being near a church on Sunday. If not (and certainly there are many, many interesting places where you can’t find a Catholic church), ask for a dispensation before you go. If you plan carefully and you are going to be gone more than one week, you may be able to get to Mass at least one of those Sundays.
 
Do your best to look for one ahead of time. We have the internet it is much easier than in the past to find the names of Dioceses and Parishes. If you try to the best of your ability and you are unable to attend Mass then the obligation is removed for that Sunday.
 
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