Adsum

March 2006

Mass for an Excommunicated Person

Father Connell Answers Moral Questions
by Very Rev. Francis J. Connell, C.SS.R., S.T.D., L.L.D., L.H.D.

Question A: May a priest issue a spiritual bouquet Mass card in suffrage for a person who died under the ban of excommunication, and to whom Christian burial is refused?

Question B: May an offering taken up in a general collection among the faithful be accepted from an excommunicated person for a High Mass to be offered according to the intentions of the donors—for example, for the Mass of All Souls or on the occasion of Mothers' Day?

Answer A: According to Canon 2262, a priest may not offer Mass publicly for a person who has been excommunicated. To issue a spiritual bouquet Mass card announcing the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice for a deceased person who has been refused Christian burial would seem to constitute a public announcement of the Mass if the one who receives it will use it in such a manner that a considerable number of persons will find out about it — for example, if it is placed on a tray at the wake. However, if the recipient will give sufficient assurance that the announcement will be made known to a small number who will not publicize it, such as the immediate family of the deceased, it would seem that the law of the Church would not be violated.

Answer B: The mere fact that an excommunicated person takes up the collection and transmits it to the priest would not mean that the priest could not accept it and celebrate the High Mass. Even if the excommunicated person is included in a large group for whom the Mass is to be offered, it would seem that he would be sufficiently obscure and anonymous to justify the priest in regarding the Holy Sacrifice as being offered privately for this individual. However, as the Canon quoted above indicates, the danger of scandal would call for a stricter application of this law in certain instances.

Confession of Theft

Question: Has a confessor the right to demand of a penitent who has confessed the sin of theft that he tell how much money was stolen?

Answer: Per se such a penitent satisfies his obligation if he merely informs the confessor whether the amount taken was a grave or light matter. In the supposition that the sum which was stolen sufficed to constitute grave matter, the magnitude of the sum would constitute only an aggravating circumstance. In other words, whether one stole $1,000 or $1,000,000, he could simply confess: “I committed a mortal sin of theft.” In practice, however, the confessor is usually justified in asking the amount involved, when one confesses that he was guilty of theft — first, that he may determine whether or not the sin was objectively grave; second, that he may be enabled to direct the penitent in the matter of restitution.

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