The document, titled “Celebration of the Liturgy of the Word on Sundays in an Emergency Situation” was introduced in a December letter by Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron in light of several of these emergency situations arising.
“Thankfully these are rare occasions, but it has become obvious that something should be provided for when the occasion might arise,” the archbishop wrote. “This celebration is only to be used in an actual emergency situation and not for convenience,” he added.
The letter describes that the protocol isn’t to be used for weekday celebrations, nor is Holy Communion to be distributed at the service, “lest there be any confusion about the nature of the Sacramental celebration which the people of Christ are called to offer to the Father on the Lord’s Day,” the archbishop wrote.
Dan McAfee, director of the archdiocesan Worship Commission, said the emergency service would be “basically the first half of the Mass.”
“Both canon law and Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter, ‘Dies domini,’ suggest that when there is not an ability to have Mass on Sunday, there should be a service of the Word instead,” McAfee said.
Because it is for an emergency situation only, it cannot be “planned for” such as when a pastor might be scheduling vacation — it must be a real, unexpected emergency.
Holy Communion is not to be distributed, and this is not only for practicality’s sake — “you might not have enough hosts in the tabernacle,” McAfee said — but mainly so parishioners can be aware of the difference between the service and the Mass itself.
“Some parishes (in other dioceses) have had to rely on the liturgical book ‘Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest,’” instead of simply having protocols for rare emergencies, McAfee said. “The Archdiocese of Detroit is blessed that we’ve always had enough priests to cover.”
McAfee said local parishes should have the book of instruction for the Word service just in case.
“We joke that the book is kept in a glass case with a little hammer,” he said, emphasizing that “you never know when the pastor might be away and the substitute priest gets sick.”
Both McAfee and Archbishop Vigneron’s letter emphasized the necessity to keep praying for priestly vocations.
“There was a time when every parish had two or three associate priests,” McAfee said. “We’re always hoping that there’s a point in the future that this isn’t needed at all.”
Workshop information
Pastors can sending deacons or lay members to several upcoming workshops to be trained in addressing such emergencies in the Archdiocese of Detroit by calling (313) 237-5934 or emailing [email protected].
