Parishioners in the Diocese of Salt Lake City were shocked to learn that the Solemnity of Mary, celebrated on Tuesday, January 1, 2019, was abrogated by their bishop, Most Reverend Oscar Azarcon Solis.
A weekly bulletin for the diocese states:
Tuesday, January 1, 2019, Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God, is not a holyday of obligation in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. In the Diocese of Salt Lake City, the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God has been abrogated.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, with the approval of the Vatican, has long-standing permission to move feast days to Sunday when the holy day falls on either a Saturday or a Monday. In 1991, the USCCB issued a decree regarding Canon 1246 §2, stating:
Whenever January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, or August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption, or November 1, the solemnity of All Saints, falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated.
This decree of the Conference of Bishops was approved and confirmed by the Apostolic See by a decree of the Congregation for Bishops (Prot. N. 296/84), signed by Bernardin Cardinal Gantin, Prefect of the Congregation, and dated July 4, 1992.
The Solemnity of Mary for the year 2019 falls on a Tuesday, so according to both the decree and Canon Law, it is not abrogated. It is unclear why the bishop abrogated the Solemnity, and all attempts to contact the diocese went straight to voice mail. We did not receive a response.
The abrogation of the holy day was brought to the attention of the Lepanto Institute by a parishioner in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Johanna D. said she heard about the abrogation during the announcements after Mass on the last Sunday of Advent. “The priest making the announcement about the abrogation really got my attention when he indicated that he was making the announcement under command from his pastor,” Johanna said. “Normally, he would just make the announcement without qualification.” Johanna also said that she was confused by the announcement because it came with no explanation as to why the obligation to attend Mass on this holy day was abrogated.
The Lepanto Institute consulted a Canon Lawyer, asking if Bishop Solis might have overstepped his authority in abrogating a Solemnity on his own. The Canon Lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Unless Pope Francis has directly effectuated said ‘abrogation’ himself, by decree not publicly known, and absent any other legitimate decree governing the matter that has not been publicly disclosed to the faithful, it appears that Bishop Solis has committed a gross abuse of his ecclesiastical power exceeding his authority as mere diocesan bishop pursuant to the norm of Canon 1246 §2.”
§2. of Canon 1246 states, “With the prior approval of the Apostolic See, however, the conference of bishops can suppress some of the holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday.” Not only does this canon specifically state that prior approval must be obtained by the Apostolic See, but it only grants permission for a conference of bishops, not individual bishops.
Without any indication that Pope Francis has in any way approved the abrogation of the Solemnity in Salt Lake City, it is impossible to say whether Bp. Solis has abused ecclesiastical authority, and if he had, whether this abuse was a matter of willful intent or neglect. Whatever the case, Canon 1389 on Abuse of Power indicates strong penalties for those found guilty:
Can. 1389 §1 A person who abuses ecclesiastical power or an office, is to be punished according to the gravity of the act or the omission, not excluding by deprivation of the office, unless a penalty for that abuse is already established by law or precept.
§2 A person who, through culpable negligence, unlawfully and with harm to another, performs or omits an act of ecclesiastical power or ministry or office, is to be punished with a just penalty.
“The first delict requires malice aforethought. The second paragraph delict requires just negligence,” said the Canon Lawyer. “But again, this analysis can only be held as valid on condition that there has been no direct intervention by the Holy See in the matter of the asserted ‘abrogation.’ If the bishop attempted to abrogate the Holy Day by his sole authority, that would be beyond ridiculous.”
At this point words fail me…….
Donations to the Diocese should be abrogated!
Happy Feastday of St. Melanie (Dec. 31) to you! We’ve another one coming up on Jan. 6, a bishop, then June 8 is St. Melania the Righteous, or the Elder, being the grandmother to the Dec. 31 one. Surprised?
Melanie, I wish you a belated Happy Feast day of St. Melanie the Roman, also the Younger, Dec. 31. She is the granddaughter of St. Melania (Melanie) the Righteous, or Elder, whose feast day is June 8. Also, Jan. 6 is the feast of St. Melanie, a bishop. Surprised?
Eastern maronite rite do not celebrate Jan. First Sol. Of Mary..Not sure why.
Holy Mother Chuneeds a good cleaning! Come Lord, cleanse your Temple!
Presumably many churches will still be having Mass, even if one isn’t obligated to attend (and what should “obligated” have to do with it?). And in the Tridentine Rite, the Octave Day of Christmas is still a HDO…and has not been abrogated. (And who elevated Bp. Solis anyway?)
The Mother of God, must be crying to see how the devil has taken charge of the RCC. THE FALLof the church shows that we are heading to the point of revelations that the end is coming soon. The antichrist have taken over the RCC.
What do you expect from a protege of Mahony.
…In the Spirit of Vatican 2… and all the Bowl games on Tuesday…we thought it would be NICE of the Church to abrogate any obligations…
Maronite east rite Catholics do Not celebrate sol. Of Mary Jan. First either in Ct.. NOT sure why that is.?
Apparently our “Boise bishop” is on the same page as SLC…. The bulletin for Saint John’s Cathedral this week simply lists a 9am Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God – that simply states ” no obligation” after it. I was wondering why no mention was made at Sunday Mass. My guess is many dioceses are doing same….inexcusable!
I will not leave the Catholic Church, The only church instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, but I will leave the Diocese of Salt Lake City, UT because in my estimation one has nothing to do with the other. When the Holy Mother of Our Savior is kicked to the curb by the bishop of the SLC diocese, I will continue to be a member of my church as I remember it and I will pray that a Catholic Bishop will be sent to us soon by God Himself, Amen
I have been a resident of the Diocese of Salt Lake City since 2007. It is only the obligation to assist at Mass this day which has been abrogated. It is my understanding, via a diocesan priest, that as a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, there is some kind of decree from a former Metropolitan allowing this. Perhaps a call to One Peter Yorke Way would help clarify this (as well as another call to 27 C Street when the chancery is open after the holiday).
This seems to be another example of the sloppy journalism in which you engage at times in your zeal to defend the Faith.
It’s in plain English in the parish bulletin. There’s a link to it and everything.
According to the calendar on the diocesan website, it is abrogated –https://www.dioslc.org/images/pdfs-doc/2019_Diocesan_Liturgical_Calendar.pdf
You can find it in numerous church and diocese announcements that the solemnity has been abrogated for the salt lake diocese. I easily verified it.
You seem to be ignoring the well sited text of this article and engaging in a little “zeal” of your own to defend this act.
It seems to me you have raised no clear point whatsoever. Persons who put forth such fuzzy statements as : ” . . . via a diocesan priest, that as a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, there is some kind of decree from a former Metropolitan allowing this. . . ” as the basis to accuse others of sloppy journalism is on mighty thin ice. Besides which, even if it were allowed by some esoteric point of canon law, why do it?
Tuesday, January 1, 2019, Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God, is not a holyday of obligation in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. IN THE DIOCESE OF SALT LAKE CITY, THE SOLEMNITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF GOD HAS BEEN ABROGATED.
Mister Rolling ?
Someone should abrogate the clericalist overseer!
Is a time coming that we Catholics will no longer be obliged to attend a Mass on Sundays or Holy Days. Lord help us!
Sad beyond reason.
… it is only the obligation to assist at Mass this day which has been abrogated.”
Does this mean what you think it means, or maybe not?
When only the conference can licitly act as a group and then on a designated day, which this is not, why would San Francisco be relevant?
Are a mason by any chance?
It is not only the Diocese of Salt Lake, but Bishop Peter Christianson of the Diocese of Boise did the same thing.
St Mary of Park City Utah declares on its website ….
‘Mass will be celebrated for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God at the White Pine Church located at 1505 White Pine Canyon Road at 11:00 am on January 1, 2019. This is not a holy day of obligation.’
http://www.stmarysparkcity.com/
There’s either been a horrible misunderstanding in communication and instruction or outright fumbling by the Bishop’s Office.
This is yet another denial of the Divine Personage of Jesus Christ, the Divine Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.
What is happening to my Church? What is going on? oh,i see. .. The Smoke of Satan has entered and made itself at home.
It is also listed in the Intermountain Catholic Newspaper in the section Around the Diocese. If it was only the obligation to assist at mass then there was no clarity in the statement in the Catholic Newspaper.
http://www.icatholic.org/article/around-the-diocese-98612098
Here is the link to the Intermountain Catholic Newspaper in the Salt. Lake Diocese with the statement about January 1 Solemnity.
Disgusting. Hope that Francis’s crap pontificate ends in 2029.
Orange, CA diocese said not a holy day of obligation. These bishops are wolves in sheep’s clothing and need to be called out for what they really are! It’s high time we take off the boxing gloves and really go after them, or we will no longer have a Church to save!
About 10 years ago during a very severe snow storm, our diocesan bishop dispensed Mass attendance on Immaculate Conception Day (Dec. 8th), even though common sense and the law automatically dispense one from attending Mass for grave reasons.
Often times one cannot get to Mass on Sunday and holy days due to illness, lack of transportation, and/or guarantee the Sacrament is valid, etc. These people are automatically dispensed because they’re impeded from attending Mass.
The Bishop here had no authority to do this on his own, making Jan. 1st (Circumcision in Trad. Calendar) just a regular day on the calendar. January 1st is one of the 14 holy days outside of Sunday that St. Pius X designated as the Vatican’s (and the standard of the Universal Church) days of precept, which, according to the law, can be dispensed from. They are (in liturgical year order):
-Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8)
-Christmas (Dec. 25)
-Circumcision (Jan. 1); USA
-Epiphany (Jan 6.); Canada & UK
-St. Joseph’s Day (Mar. 19); Italy
-Annunciation (Mar 25 or next free day after Holy Week and Easter octave)
-Ascension Day (unceremoniously transferred in most U.S. diocese to Sunday)
-Corpus Christi Thursday (UK; may be observed on Sunday in USA with procession)
-St. John the Baptist (June 24); Canada
-Ss. Peter & Paul (June 29); UK
-Assumption (Aug 15); USA
-St. Michael’s Day (Sept. 29)
-All Saints (Nov. 1)
Bishops do have the authority to add days of precept in their within their dioceses. I’m surprised that St. Patrick’s Day isn’t one of them since it always falls during Lent.
Not a day of obligation in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for 2019.
Does the canon regarding dispensations apply to such a situation?
“Can. 87 §1. A diocesan bishop, whenever he judges that it contributes to their spiritual good, is able to dispense the faithful from universal and particular disciplinary laws issued for his territory or his subjects by the supreme authority of the Church. He is not able to dispense, however, from procedural or penal laws nor from those whose dispensation is specially reserved to the Apostolic See or some other authority.”
If the obligation of the holy day is a disciplinary matter, then it seems that the ordinary can make a decision of this sort on his own authority as long as he proposes that it “contributes to the spiritual good” of his flock.
That is why we as True Catholics need to embrace the Prayers of Reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus (instituted in perpetuity by Pope Leo XIII) to make reparation for both blasphemy and profanation of Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. Please see holyfacedevotion.com or read the book Holy Man of Tours, life of Leo Dupont with Sister Mary Peter. Beautiful story and devotion. We are in a spiritual battle like never before.
Thank God its still a Holy Day of Obligation in Canada, British Colunbia where I live.