Bishop Suspends Ef Mass

[Norseman82]

[quote name='CatherineM' date='02 December 2009 - 01:06 AM' timestamp='1259734011' post='2013052']
All I know is that bishops have really hard jobs, and I'm glad I don't have to make the calls that they do. I know they are supposed to be more concerned with our spiritual well being than our physical well being, but like any good parent, that's a hard thing to do when push comes to shove. I'm sure the death of that 13 year old boy in Calgary weighed heavily on Bishop Henry's mind as he was making this difficult decision. A healthy child went from playing in a hockey tournament one day, to being dead of H1N1 the next.
[/quote]

And if there is ANYONE on this forum who would be qualified to comment on the situation, it would be an adult who is studying canon law in Alberta.

[Veridicus]

[quote name='Norseman82' date='02 December 2009 - 01:22 AM' timestamp='1259734949' post='2013073']
And if there is ANYONE on this forum who would be qualified to comment on the situation, it would be an adult who is studying canon law in Alberta.
[/quote]

That post was a check and mate.

Edited December 2, 2009 by Veridicus

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='MIkolbe' date='01 December 2009 - 11:06 PM' timestamp='1259708760' post='2012761']
I think someone said this in a similar thread... but isn't H1N1 airborne? and if that is true, and if the concern is THIS high; why not just suspend Mass altogether?
[/quote]
Yes, to me that seems a more effective measure if one wants to ensure a slower spread of the disease. BTW, the number of cases is dropping steadily here.

[quote name='Resurrexi' date='01 December 2009 - 11:08 PM' timestamp='1259708929' post='2012763']


It seems to me that Communion on the tongue poses no greater risk for catching H1N1 then just being in church.
[/quote]
My son and I both got flu about a month ago. I receive on the tongue, and of course my son doesn't receive at all. He was the one who got it first, and it pretty much had to have been from Mass because that was the only place we were going at the time because I was still pretty darn nauseated most of the time.

[quote name='kafka' date='01 December 2009 - 11:10 PM' timestamp='1259709038' post='2012765']
the point in that case would be that anyone who is carrying the virus should not come to Mass.
[/quote]
I'm pretty sure you're contagious just prior to symptoms appearing, so a person could go to Mass unaware that he had H1N1 (or another strain of flu).

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='Norseman82' date='02 December 2009 - 06:19 AM' timestamp='1259734746' post='2013066']
Don't get me wrong, I don't like the State telling the Church how to say Mass, but weren't there some cases in which there was hostility to the EF in Britain? Was it by a bishop or just pastors? How do we know that this was not related?
[/quote]
I can only speak of my archdiocese, where there is no EF. The Archbishop is working on it, and he thought he had a solution where a parish would be devoted exclusively to the EF, but that parish declined. People are discouraged from receiving on the tongue, but it's not forbidden.

[JimR-OCDS]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='01 December 2009 - 06:43 PM' timestamp='1259707420' post='2012747']
[img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kweFJm8yGGQ/Sw60x4VU22I/AAAAAAAADCM/1VgEgwyGiek/s1600/CommLetter7-24-09.jpg[/img]

[url="http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2009/11/it-is-not-licit-to-deny-communion-on.html"]Source[/url]
[/quote]


I believe this letter was in response to Bishop Mahoney of LA, trying to make receiving Holy Communion in the hand the norm, while prohibiting reception on the tongue for all time.

BTW, the letter posted here does't seem right. Its not addressed to anyone, other than Dear.

However, in light of the current H1N1 pandemic, the Bishops have conferred with the Vatican and have the authority to issue the temporary mandate.

Jim

Edited December 2, 2009 by JimR-OCDS

[zunshynn]

[quote name='JimR-OCDS' date='02 December 2009 - 11:46 AM' timestamp='1259779582' post='2013246']
This letter was in response to Bishop Mahoney of LA, trying to make receiving Holy Communion in the hand the norm, while prohibiting reception on the tongue for all time.

However, in light of the current H1N1 pandemic, the Bishops have conferred with the Vatican and have the authority to issue the temporary mandate.

Jim
[/quote]

No, it's not. Look at the date.

A similar letter may have been sent regarding Mahoney, but that would have been well before this.

[zunshynn]

[quote name='JimR-OCDS' date='02 December 2009 - 11:46 AM' timestamp='1259779582' post='2013246']
BTW, the letter posted here does't seem right. Its not addressed to anyone, other than Dear.
[/quote]

The person obviously whited out their name for privacy reasons before letting it be posted on the internet.

[Nihil Obstat]

If the bishops indeed had "conferred with the Vatican" to find this authority, then they would have mentioned this to all the people who rightly believe that no, they actually don't have this authority.

[JimR-OCDS]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='02 December 2009 - 02:54 PM' timestamp='1259780075' post='2013252']
The person obviously whited out their name for privacy reasons before letting it be posted on the internet.
[/quote]


But wasn't it addressed to the Bishop?


Jim

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Laudate_Dominum' date='01 December 2009 - 04:19 PM' timestamp='1259709563' post='2012770']
Sounds like a weird power struggle to me. In the meantime the faithful are the ones being hurt.
[/quote]
True, but I am sure that the CDW will step in - like it has done in other cases - and overturn the bishops order.

[XIX]

Could there be a difference between banning a practice and temporarily suspending a practice?

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='XIX' date='02 December 2009 - 01:59 PM' timestamp='1259787551' post='2013300']
Could there be a difference between banning a practice and temporarily suspending a practice?
[/quote]
The earlier "bans" were supposed to be temporary too, but the CDW overturned them anyway.

[JimR-OCDS]

Nothing from the Vatican other than this, which came out in may.

[quote]
Last week, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, assured Mexicans that Benedict XVI was following with concern and sadness all that was occurring in the country and that he was praying for the victims of the epidemic and their families.

The Pontiff was kept informed of the progress of the flu and supported the decision made by some bishops, including the archbishop primate of Mexico City, to cancel Sunday Masses and relieve the faithful of their Sunday obligation, Father Lombardi said.

[url="http://www.zenit.org/article-25771?l=english"]http://www.zenit.org...25771?l=english[/url]
[/quote]

Now, if the Pope supported the decision and authority of the Bishop in Mexico City to cancel Mass, do you
think he'd have a problem with a Bishop prohibiting reception of Holy Communion on the tongue, during this same flu pandemic?

Perhaps by taking precautionary measures now, will prevent us from having to cancel Masses altogether in the future.




Jim

Edited December 2, 2009 by JimR-OCDS

[Apotheoun]

Communion on the tongue is no more or less dangerous than communion on the hand in spreading the flu. If a bishop is serious about not facilitating the spread of the flu he should cancel all public worship in his diocese as the report you cited mentions.

So far this year less people have died from the flu than in 2009. There have been a little over 8,000 deaths so far; while in a normal year it is estimated that between 250,000 and 500,000 people die from the flu.

Edited December 2, 2009 by Apotheoun

[Apotheoun]

Byzantine Christians (Catholic and Orthodox) receive communion on a golden spoon, and none of the Byzantine Churches I have attended have changed that practice, nor are they likely to do so.