06/09/2023
Catechesis:
On the Directives by Most Revd Wilfred Chikpa ANAGBE, CMF, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria.
Let us begin by asking and attempting to answer two relevant questions on this matter:
1. What is a FOMULARY OF FACULTIES?
2. What is a CELEBRET?
Preword:
Many people have IGNORANTLY said so much in the negative about the recent directives from the Catholic Bishop of Makurdi regarding permission to celebrate THE SACRAMENTS in his diocese or jurisdiction by vsiting priests.
In Brief:
No priest has the FACULTY (authority) to celebrate Mass after ordination. This law has been taken for granted over the years. A priest CAN NOT and properly speaking, SHOULD NOT celebrate Mass after ordination UNLESS he is given a FACULTY OF FOMULARY by the Bishop in whose diocese or jurisdiction the priest is to exercise his priestly ministry. The content of the fomulary vary from Diocese to Diocese. Some dioceses permit a priest to hear confession of abortion (biahop Usuh permitted us. Any bishop may change that norm). Other bishops reserve that faculty to themselve ONLY. In other dioceses, ONLY the parish priest has the faculty to officiate at weddings (bishop Usuh permitted parish priests to delegate this to their assistants BUT no assistant can go ahead and wed anyone EXCEPT with the permission of the Parish Priest). There are somny of these laws and their variation according to dioceses.
Evidence:
I shall attach some fomulary of Faculty here. I have received three (after my ordination in 2003 from Bishop Usuh in Mkaurdi Diocese. I also received a reviewed fomulary of Faculty in 2013 from Bishop Peter Iornzuul Adoboh. Last year, 2022) I also recrived a slightly reviewed fomulary of faculty from Most Revd Isaac Bundepuun DUGU of Katsina-Ala Diocese)
Clarification of the term faculty:
A faculty, in the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church, is an ecclesiastical right conferred on a subordinate, by a superior who enjoys jurisdiction in the external forum. These rights then allow the subordinate to act, in the external or internal forum, validly or lawfully, or at least safely, ONLY within the jurisdiction of the conferring ordinary or superior.
Types of faculties:
Furthermore, faculties, by reason of their source, are Apostolic, Episcopal, or Regular.
a. Faculties are styled Apostolic or Papal when they proceed from the Pope directly, or through the ordinary channels of the Sacred Roman Congregations. During the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis granted special faculties to some priests across the world. Fr David Hangeior was appointed an Apostle of Mercy for Gboko Diocese. The Pope granted Fr Hangeior special faculties.
b. They are Episcopal, if the power or privilege conferred proceeds from a diocesan bishop, by virtue of his own power or ordinary jurisdiction, as for instance, the faculties of the diocese, to hear confessions, say Mass, preach, etc., granted to priests who labour in the diocese for the salvation of souls. In Gboko Diocese, Bishop William Amove AVENYA has conferred special faculties to ecorcise to Fr Matthew Dzer. Fr Matthew is the Official and ONLY exorcist in the Catholic Diocese of Gboko.
c. Faculties are regular when they proceed from superiors of the regular clergy by reason of their ordinary jurisdiction, or by virtue of extraordinary powers or privileges conceded to them by the Holy See.
d. Lastly, faculties are General or Particular:
They are General, when granted for indeterminate persons, though they may be limited by time; they are Particular, when granted to designated persons or for particular cases.
Note: General faculties conceded to bishops and other ordinaries are also called indults.
What is a CELEBRET?
A celebret is a letter of introduction from a priest's ordinary or superior which attests to the priest's ordination and good standing and certifies that there is nothing to prevent him from celebrating Mass.
Bishop Anagbe in perspective:
The bishop has the sole prerogative to decide who celebrates Mass, or the sacraments generally, in his diocese or not including the incardinated priests whose faculties MAY be suspend in the case of a canonical, sacramental or pastoral breach. What determines the sanction is contained in the Penal Codes of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. You cannot go to Lagos or Abuja and celebrate Mass. It is even more strict outside Nigeria. I visit my mother BUT had to obtain permission from my parish priest to celebrate Mass in my village. You can't just do what you want. We, priests and the entire Catholic church, are guided by laws and penal laws!!!
It is critical for us to understand that the direction of the sacred liturgy, that is, the celebration of the sacraments and paraliturgical celebrations, depend on the authority of the Church, which resides in the Apostolic See and, according to the norm of law, the diocesan bishop Canon 838 #1). Got that???
Moreover, within the limits of his competence, it pertains to the diocesan bishop in the Church entrusted to him to issue liturgical norms which binds everyone (cf.Canon 838 #4). Do you understsnd???
Conclusion:
Every ordained priest is given a fomulary of faculty which gives them the authority and legitimacy to celebrate the sacraments. It is the bishop who gives this to priests who minister in his diocese. No priest has the power to celebrate Mass without this faculty and it is valid only in a given diocese. Once a priest leaves his diocese HE MUST OBTAIN A CELEBRET from his bishop. He is required to submit this celebret to the bishop of any diocese he is visiting. This law is UNIVERSAL. The bishop where he is visiting may accept or deny him the right to publicly celebrate the sacraments in his diocese. However, the priest may celebrate a private Mass outside his diocese of ministy.
Secular (Diocesan) priests obtain the celebret from their local ordinary, that is Bishop, and priest's who are religious or members of clerical societies of Apostolic life may obtain it from their local ordinary, major superior, or local superior.
To be valid, the celebret must be dated within a year of its presentation to the parish priest or Bishop in whose parish or diocese he wishes to celebrate.
A bishop can withdraw the faculties of a priest if he judges that their actions are at variance with liturgical or canonical norms. Usually their is a legal process before the final sanction. Canon Lawyers judge the matter and make recommendations to the bishop through the local or regional tribunal before he takes action. We have Canon Lawyers and Judges.
Each diocese has a tribunal made up of experts.
Dear friends, let us be guided in our involvement in canonical or church processes.
The cburch is guided by the Code of Canon Law.
Be careful how you get involved, help yourself with a research, Google can be of immense assistance to you.
If you are a Catholic and you do not have these basic documents of the church or have not read them then you are yet to be serious about your faith.
We didn't go to school to be educated illiterates, ask questions, search for answers and engage intelligently and reasonably.
Reverendissimus AKUMBUL, Phelle Fidelis
Chancellor, Catholic Diocese of Katsina-Ala
Tuesday, 04.09.2023.
