Catholics May Receive Communion At SSPX Masses

A question came to me this morning from a brother priest, a pastor in another US diocese.

Q. Some of my parishioners have been going to the SSPX Masses because our bishop, and virtually every US bishop, has stopped the public Sunday Masses. The SSPX is having outdoor Masses despite the fact that our bishop has asked us not to do so. Of course, they do not care what the bishop says, and the civil authorities are permitting the outdoor Masses... Thoughts?

A. It is my understanding that the Church law allows Catholics to receive communion from the Orthodox where they are unable to do so from the Catholic Church, e.g. in places where there is no Catholic Church around. The present situation seems to be a parallel case, in which the Catholic church has practically forbidden any administration of the sacraments to the faithful. Plus, regarding Canon Law we learned that once you have made a reasonable effort to find out what the law says, if it is still unclear, then freedom reigns.

I say yes. Catholics, in the present proscriptive climate, in which the Catholic churches are sacramentally closed to the faithful, they have freedom to go elsewhere to receive valid sacraments, which they need for their spiritual well-being. It is a God-given right for Catholics to have the assistance of the sacraments, because the sacraments are necessary means of salvation. We need the sacraments. We are not Protestants!

I would go further. There are many places where traditional Catholics are, as a rule, not provided the traditional Mass. In those places, given the law I mentioned above, those Catholics have freedom to receive the eucharist from traditional and valid liturgies that may otherwise be illicit, e.g. SSPX, Orthodox, independent chapels, etc.