Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: Masses for Non-Catholic Officials
ROME, MARCH 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
In the wake of our response on praying for public officials (March 6) a West Hartford, Connecticut, reader commented: "Does the Gospel not say: 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you'? This kind of righteousness that holds back prayers at Mass smacks of the attitudes of the Pharisees. Of course we ought to pray for these people at Mass."
I am in full agreement with this correspondent that we ought to pray for those who govern us, regardless of their religion. But I fear that he may have read too much into the original question.
Our original questioner made a precise technical query regarding the possibility of offering a public Mass "for the intentions" of a governing official who intentionally supports some very anti-Catholic policies. As we explained, this is quite different from asking God, even at Mass, for the overall physical and spiritual welfare of the same official.
I am sure that our original Brookfield, Connecticut, reader is more than sufficiently Catholic to pray often for the official in question who, from the sketch provided, certainly needs them.
Another reader, from Cork, Ireland, mentioned a slightly different case: "A good Methodist lady recently died in our town. Would it be wrong or unwise to pray for her soul publicly with permission from her relatives, or announce the details of her funeral rites? The latter I can see could be dodgy, as it is advertising going to a non-Catholic place of worship. What about praying privately for non-Catholic poor souls?"
As in many cases, there is no simple answer, since the specific pastoral context must be taken into account. From the tone of our correspondent's note I presume that the Methodist woman was well known in the area and esteemed by all.
In such a case I think that a pastor could very well mention the death and even include a petition for the repose of her soul in the prayers of the faithful.
This can be, and often is, done in other circumstances such as when prayers are offered at Mass for the victims of a tragedy that has impacted the national or local community, or when well-known public figures die.
It is also usually possible for a Catholic to be present at the funeral services of people of other faiths out of respect or friendship for the deceased. In such cases a Catholic may join in a prayer or psalm that is not contradictory to his faith. But he or she should not, for example, receive communion at a non-Catholic service, or participate in prayers that explicitly or implicitly deny fundamental Christian truths.
A Catholic may always pray for the deceased of other faiths. Indeed the Church often does so publicly, as in Eucharistic Prayer IV when we ask the Father to "Remember those who have died in the peace of Christ and all the dead whose faith is known to you alone."
In the wake of our response on praying for public officials (March 6) a West Hartford, Connecticut, reader commented: "Does the Gospel not say: 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you'? This kind of righteousness that holds back prayers at Mass smacks of the attitudes of the Pharisees. Of course we ought to pray for these people at Mass."
I am in full agreement with this correspondent that we ought to pray for those who govern us, regardless of their religion. But I fear that he may have read too much into the original question.
Our original questioner made a precise technical query regarding the possibility of offering a public Mass "for the intentions" of a governing official who intentionally supports some very anti-Catholic policies. As we explained, this is quite different from asking God, even at Mass, for the overall physical and spiritual welfare of the same official.
I am sure that our original Brookfield, Connecticut, reader is more than sufficiently Catholic to pray often for the official in question who, from the sketch provided, certainly needs them.
Another reader, from Cork, Ireland, mentioned a slightly different case: "A good Methodist lady recently died in our town. Would it be wrong or unwise to pray for her soul publicly with permission from her relatives, or announce the details of her funeral rites? The latter I can see could be dodgy, as it is advertising going to a non-Catholic place of worship. What about praying privately for non-Catholic poor souls?"
As in many cases, there is no simple answer, since the specific pastoral context must be taken into account. From the tone of our correspondent's note I presume that the Methodist woman was well known in the area and esteemed by all.
In such a case I think that a pastor could very well mention the death and even include a petition for the repose of her soul in the prayers of the faithful.
This can be, and often is, done in other circumstances such as when prayers are offered at Mass for the victims of a tragedy that has impacted the national or local community, or when well-known public figures die.
It is also usually possible for a Catholic to be present at the funeral services of people of other faiths out of respect or friendship for the deceased. In such cases a Catholic may join in a prayer or psalm that is not contradictory to his faith. But he or she should not, for example, receive communion at a non-Catholic service, or participate in prayers that explicitly or implicitly deny fundamental Christian truths.
A Catholic may always pray for the deceased of other faiths. Indeed the Church often does so publicly, as in Eucharistic Prayer IV when we ask the Father to "Remember those who have died in the peace of Christ and all the dead whose faith is known to you alone."
posted by Chipi Buenafe at
8:40 PM
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