A Bishop’s Authority Over the Liturgy

October 4, 2025

Question: I was wondering what is the extent of the bishop's authority regarding the liturgy? For example, could he forbid the distribution of Communion under both species? Could he forbid celebrating Mass ad orientem? Can he forbid the Novus Ordo from being celebrated in Latin? — M.L., Missouri, USA

Bows Toward Priests

September 28, 2025

Question: If the priest is standing in front of the altar, and in his ordinary movements one of the altar servers or ministers passes behind him, should he bow to him? If the priest is not seated in the chair, and in his ordinary movements one of the servants passes in front of the chair, should he bow toward the empty chair? When the priest says the final blessing at Mass, should we make the sign of the cross? When a lector goes up to the presbytery to proclaim a reading of the Mass he bows to the priest; should he bow again to come down when he finishes reading? — G.O., Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Incensing Deacons

September 20, 2025

Question: I studied pastoral theology at the Catholic University of Paris. In a Eucharistic celebration, can one incense the deacon or deacons? In the absence of a priest, can a deacon remove the Blessed Sacrament exposed? — P.D., Cap-Haïtien, Haiti

Deacons and Liturgical Precedence

September 14, 2025

Question: My question is a follow-up to this 2007 article on deacons. You mention that in the presence of the priest, the deacon should not bless or give the Benediction blessing after adoration. Where can we read more on this topic? Because I have seen a norm where the deacon will take care of adoration, preside vespers or morning prayer, and then immediately give the blessing as they are ordinary ministers of these offices. A priest might or might not be present, and because there is some uncertainty to his presence and to give the deacons more opportunity to preside over the liturgy and give the priest a kind of rest, why would the priest necessarily need to preside? Does this mean that if a bishop was present at adoration, he ought to give the blessing instead of the priest? What if the priest was older? What about when people are asking for blessings for their families and religious articles and cars after Mass? Should all be directed to the priest, who is already extremely busy on Sunday with Masses and confessions, or is it all right for the deacon to take care of these? — P.T., Washington, D.C.

Moving Patronal Feasts

September 6, 2025

Question: Last September you published a response clarifying a question about duplicating the celebration of a liturgical feast. However, according to the Table of Liturgical Days, the Sunday of Ordinary Time takes precedence over the feast of the patron saint of a diocese, is that correct? For example, if in a diocese the patronal feast is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15) and in the civil calendar that date does not coincide with a Sunday: a) can the diocesan bishop move that patronal feast to the following Sunday? b) if so, would it be correct for the bishop to order that the patronal feast day be celebrated in the diocesan cathedral on August 15 with the presbyterate and the lay faithful, and that in the parishes the celebration of the liturgical feast be doubled both on August 15 — as indicated by the general liturgical calendar — and on the following Sunday — according to the disposition of the diocesan bishop? — J.G., Zipaquirá, Colombia

Incensing During the Liturgy of the Hours

August 31, 2025

Question: We are praying lauds and vespers with the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the altar. As written in the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours (No. 261), the altar may be incensed during the Gospel canticle. However, we received a complaint that the celebrant is not supposed to incense the altar when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed on it, but it would be permissible if the Blessed Sacrament is not on the altar, say, but on the retablo. I have not found anything to support this claim. I would like to ask for your opinion on this. — J.S.

Masses of Christian Burial

August 24, 2025

Question: If a Catholic hasn’t been to Mass or confession for several if not many years, is there some benefit to this person to have a Mass of Christian Burial after death? Also, for a practicing Catholic who has attended Mass regularly and gone to confession when needed, would it be wrong if this person decided in advance not to have a Mass of Christian Burial after death? — T.B., Courtenay, British Columbia

Churches Named for ‘St. Mary’

August 17, 2025

Question: As a follow-up to the June 7 question about a solemnity linked to a parish patron, what day of the liturgical calendar should be celebrated as a church’s solemnity if the church has the generic title "St. Mary’s"? Can the parish priest or diocesan bishop simply select one of the Marian feast days to celebrate it as a solemnity (if it is not such already)? — F.D., Wagga Wagga, Australia

Who Can and Cannot Give Homilies

August 2, 2025

Question: I am concerned by a practice in which a priest defers to a visiting non-cleric (religious sister or brother) or permits a lay person to offer a reflection. The reflection usually follows a one- or two-minute comment from the presider who claims it was the homily. I have been taught that canon law is clear as to whom the homily at Mass is reserved, as well as the exceptions permitted by the bishop for a layperson to preach. However, this is not the case about which I am speaking. — T.O., Gloucester, New Jersey

Celebrating at a Second Mass

July 27, 2025

Question: The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) in No. 203 recommends priests to concelebrate whenever they gather together with their bishop. The GIRM in No. 204, however, only indicates that a priest has a faculty to celebrate or concelebrate more than once in a day, for the benefit of the faithful, in certain prescribed circumstances. If a pastor were to concelebrate a funeral Mass with his diocesan bishop, would he be able to celebrate again for the people of his parish on that same day? Ostensibly, it would seem that a funeral celebration is not really a "gathering of priests," even if there are many priests at it, and so the permission given in No. 204.e arguably does not apply. If so, does this mean that a priest, if he wanted to offer Mass for his parishioners on the same day as a funeral that he was attending, could only attend such a funeral "in choir," and not concelebrate? — F.D., Wagga Wagga, Australia