Talk about condemning with a broad brush! My goodness.
At the beginning of this thread was a comment that was related from the retired bishop that the persons who had assisted at the Confirmation Mass on a Saturday afternoon had met their obligation for that Sunday. As Dan could also say, there is more than one way that could be so and, not having heard precisely the language he used and not knowing the particular norms of that diocese, I cannot say which of several premises His Excellency was invoking.
Certain people on this thread have proceeded to attempt to prove the bishop wrong, judge the bishop, second guess the bishop, condemn the bishop, and blame the attitude they see exhibited in the bishop’s action for a myriad of woes. I am, frankly, horrified and disgusted. These are anything but attitudes to be praised.
That said, the bishop did not say that people were forbidden to attend Mass again, either later that day or the next day. They could have spent the whole day on Sunday attending every Mass the parish celebrated, had they so wished.
The issue instead was: the bishop said those who had attended that Mass had fulfilled the Sunday Mass obligation, which binds seriously. These people had just attended a pontificated Mass…I seldom saw a Confirmation Mass go less than an hour and thirty minutes when I was Master of Ceremonies to my bishop…when we had many confirmandi, it could go two hours easily.
I am sure there were those present for whom attending another Mass would not constitute a great burden…or indeed any burden. But I was also a pastor well more than long enough to know that there are also those categories of people for whom it would be a real hardship…especially for young families, who would be just the sort to have a child being confirmed. There are many today who have intense lives and other challenges that life and the weekend confront them with beyond simply multiplying Mass attendance – to say nothing for the elderly who have to make special arrangement and take special effort to attend…to name but two groups.