II. CONCELEBRATED MASSES

INTRODUCTION

153. Concelebration effectively brings out the unity of the priesthood, of the sacrifice, and of the whole people of God. In addition to the times when the rite itself prescribes it, concelebration is also permitted at:

1. a. the chrism Mass and the evening Mass on Holy Thursday;

b. the Mass for councils, meetings of bishops, and synods;

c. the Mass for the blessing of an abbot;

2. in addition, with the permission of the Ordinary, who has the right to decide on the advisability of concelebration, at:

a. the conventual Mass and the principal Mass in churches and oratories when the needs of the people do not require that all the priests present celebrate individually;

b. the Mass for any kind of meeting of priests, either secular or religious.⁶²

154. Where there is a large number of priests, the authorized superior may permit concelebration several times on the same day, but either at different times or in different places.⁶³

155. The right to regulate, in accord with the law, the discipline for concelebration in his diocese, even in churches and semipublic oratories of exempt religious, belongs to the bishop. The right to decide on the advisability of concelebration and to permit it in his churches and oratories belongs to every Ordinary and even to every major superior of nonexempt clerical religious institutes and of societies of clerics living in community without vows.⁶⁴

156. No one is ever to be admitted into a concelebration once Mass has already begun.⁶⁵

157. A concelebration in which the priests of any diocese concelebrate with their own bishop, especially at the chrism Mass on Holy Thursday and on the occasion of a synod or pastoral visitation, is to be held in high regard. Concelebration is likewise recommended whenever priests gather together with their bishop during a retreat or at any other meeting. That sign of the unity of the priesthood and of the Church itself which marks every concelebration stands out even more clearly in the instances mentioned.⁶⁶

158. For a particular reason, having to do either with the meaning of the rite or of the liturgical feast, to celebrate or concelebrate more than once on the same day is permitted as follows:

a. One who has celebrated or concelebrated the chrism Mass on Holy Thursday may also celebrate or concelebrate the evening Mass.

b. One who has celebrated or concelebrated the Mass of the Easter Vigil may celebrate or concelebrate the second Mass of Easter.

c. All priests may celebrate or concelebrate the three Masses of Christmas, provided the Masses are at their proper times of day.

d. One who concelebrates with the bishop or his delegate at a synod or pastoral visitation, or concelebrates on the occasion of a meeting of priests, may celebrate another Mass for the benefit of the people.⁶⁷ This holds also, in analogous circumstances, for gatherings of religious.

159. The structure of a concelebrated Mass, whatever its form, follows the norms for an individual celebration, except for the points prescribed or changed in the next section.

160. If neither a deacon nor other ministers assist in a concelebrated Mass, their functions are carried out by the concelebrants.