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On Dispensations �ack in March when the COVID-19 “safer at home” measures were first
being put into place, Bishop Quinn granted a dispensation to all the faithful in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation. Even now that the public celebration of Mass is resuming in many parts of our diocese, this dispensation remains in effect. But what is a dispensation, and how can a bishop grant this? What Is a Dispensation?
Canon 85 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law defines a dispensation as “relaxation of a merely ecclesiastical law in a particular case.” To understand what this definition means, let’s go through the different categories of law that the Church recognizes. First of all, natural law is law that is built into the very nature of things. A good example of natural law are fundamental principles of morality, which are non-negotiable and unchanging. E.g., murder is always wrong in and of itself; it’s not wrong just because a lawgiver arbitrarily decided it would be. On the other hand, positive law is law that is created or made up. One familiar example of positive law is the secular civil law of a city, state, or national government. But more pertinent to our discussion here, divine positive law is law that God Himself has made up for us, which addresses things that go beyond the basic morality of natural law. The Church can also make up positive law, and we call this ecclesiastical law. Sometimes, as in the above-cited canon, this referred to as "merely ecclesiastical law," to emphasize the fact that the Church is making up these laws as a human judgement call for the sake of the good governance of the people of God, thereby
acknowledging that such a law is not a matter of divine revelation or something which comes directly from God. In terms of dispensations within the Church, the appropriate authority—which in many cases in the diocesan bishop, but in some specific circumstances could be the superior of a religious community or even the pastor of a parish—is able to dispense from this merely ecclesiastical law. That is, the proper authority figure can dispense from the Church’s practical human-made laws, but not from those things which God himself commands or from unchanging matters of right and wrong.
is that nobody can be obligated to do what is truly impossible. Therefore, nobody sins by not attending Mass in a situation where all the public Masses in the entire country are cancelled. But then the question might be asked, in our current coronavirus pandemic, it seems that Catholics are not attending Mass because either: 1. There are What Is the Sunday Obligation? no public Masses to attend, or 2. Because they have The obligation to keep the Sabbath day holy is a mata medical condition or are at an age when attending ter of divine law, as it was given to us directMass would be dangerous for them. Since ly by God in the Ten Commandments. a Catholic in either of these situations Do y This divine law is reflected in our ou h would not be obligated to attend Mass a qu ave e ecclesial law, specifically in canon s anyway, what is the point of having tion cano a n b 1246 which tells us that: “On an official dispensation? l o a woul ut w tha d t Sundays and other holy days The short answer is: peace l y i k ou answ e to s e of obligation, the faithful are e of conscience for the faithful. r e e d he Ema re? obliged to participate in [i.e., il The period of time when all jcoo attend in person] the Mass.” public Masses were cancelled pe Attending Mass on Sunday with r@dowr was a difficult (we might even "Cou .org is obviously one way to keep say traumatic) time for sincere rie ques tion" r Catholics everywhere, and a disthe Lord’s day holy, and so this subje in the pensation from the Sunday oblispecific means of observing the ct lin gation was a reassurance that God Sabbath is one which the Church e. was not displeased with anyone for actively thinks it’s a good idea to not attempting the impossible. require of all Catholics. However, Further, in this time when public since this is a matter of merely eccleMasses are resuming in a limited way, it sial law, a bishop of a diocese can dishas become necessary for many Catholics to pense this obligation for his own people for a discern whether it is safe and prudent for them to sufficiently serious cause. return to community liturgical prayer in their parBut what the bishop cannot dispense from—even ishes. Knowing that there is currently no obligation if he wanted to for some reason!—is God’s own law of to attend Mass will hopefully give everyone an extra keeping Sunday holy. Therefore, even when Catholics sense of freedom in determining the best choice for are dispensed from the requirement to attend Sunday themselves and their families. Mass, we are still obligated, under pain of sin, to find some way to set Sundays apart as a sacred time. This should be done first of all by abstaining from unnecessary work, but also by making time specifically for prayer. Incidentally, while watching a livestreamed or televised Mass doesn’t technically satisfy the usual obligation to attend Sunday Mass, it can be a helpful way to make Sunday an especially prayerful time when going to Mass in person is not safe or possible. Why Bother with a Dispensation?
One other important point to keep in mind about the Sunday obligation is that there are other circumstances, outside of a formal dispensation, when a Catholic might be excused from it. For example, if a Catholic is too ill to go out, he or she does not sin by not attending Mass while sick. Also, an obligation is not binding when fulfilling that obligation would put a person in harm’s way. For instance, nobody is obligated to attend Mass when extreme winter weather makes the roads too dangerous to travel, or when they have a medical condition which makes it risky to be in a large crowd. And of course, a very basic principle of canon law
July 2020 w The Courier w dowr.org
Jenna Cooper
Tribunal Coordinator & Judge jcooper@dowr.org
