Canon 1246
| Code | 1983 Code of Canon Law |
|---|---|
| Book | Book IV: Function of the Church |
| Part and title | Sacred places and times; sacred times |
| Subject | Sunday and other holy days of obligation |
| Universal list | Sunday plus ten annual celebrations |
| Conference competence | Suppression of some obligations or transfer to Sunday, with prior Apostolic See approval |
Canon 1246 is the canon of the 1983 Code of Canon Law that identifies Sunday as the primordial holy day of obligation in the universal Church, names ten additional holy days for the Latin Church, and permits a conference of bishops—with the prior approval of the Apostolic See—to suppress some of those obligations or transfer their celebrations to Sunday.[1]
Place and purpose in the Code
Canon 1246 stands in the Code's treatment of sacred times. Canon 1244 first reserves to the supreme ecclesiastical authority the establishment, transfer, and suppression of feast days and days of penance common to the universal Church, while allowing a diocesan bishop to decree special days for a diocese or place only in individual instances. Canon 1246 then identifies the recurring universal Latin days of precept and grants a carefully limited faculty to episcopal conferences.[1]
The canon determines which days possess the juridical character of a holy day of obligation; it does not by itself state the whole content or method of fulfillment. Canon 1247 imposes participation in Mass and festal rest. Canon 1248 explains that participation at Mass in any Catholic rite on the day or the preceding evening fulfills the Mass precept and gives pastoral direction when participation is impossible. The three canons should therefore be read together without making each say what belongs to another.[1]
Sunday as the primordial holy day
Canon 1246 §1 begins with Sunday. By apostolic tradition the Church celebrates the Paschal Mystery on this day, and Sunday must be observed throughout the universal Church as the primordial holy day of obligation. Primordial does not mean merely first in a numerical list. Sunday is the weekly day of the Lord's Resurrection, the foundation and kernel of the liturgical year, and the ordinary day on which the Christian community gathers for the Eucharistic sacrifice.[1][2]
Sunday's place also explains the structure of §2. The law can permit another celebration to be transferred to Sunday because Sunday already possesses universal ecclesial and Eucharistic primacy. This faculty must not be understood as treating Sunday as an empty scheduling space. The Roman calendar's rules of precedence, the character of the liturgical season, and the approved decree determine how a transferred celebration is observed.[1][3]
The ten universal Latin holy days
Besides Sunday, canon 1246 §1 names ten annual celebrations: the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ; the Epiphany; the Ascension; the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ; Holy Mary the Mother of God; the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary; her Assumption; Saint Joseph; Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles; and All Saints. Saints Peter and Paul constitute one celebration in this enumeration, so the list contains ten days rather than eleven.[1]
The list is universal Latin law before lawful adaptation under §2. It cannot be replaced by an informal list copied from another country. The actual additional days of obligation in a territory depend on the decrees of its episcopal conference and the required approval of the Apostolic See. A traveler or a Catholic belonging to another Church sui iuris must also consider the rules determining which ecclesiastical laws bind the person in that place.[1]
Suppression or transfer by an episcopal conference
Canon 1246 §2 permits a conference of bishops to suppress some holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday. The faculty belongs to the conference acting according to law, not to an individual parish, priest, diocesan office, or civil authority. Its exercise requires the prior approval of the Apostolic See. A conference decree without that required approval cannot create the universal or territorial result contemplated by the canon.[1]
Suppression in this context concerns the day as a day of precept within the approved territory; it should not be carelessly described as abolishing the mystery or saint from Catholic worship. Transfer to Sunday concerns the calendar placement authorized by the approved norm. The decree and liturgical books determine the concrete celebration, while canons 1247 and 1248 determine the attached duties and their fulfillment. Permanent conference action under §2 is also distinct from an occasional transfer caused in a particular year by the occurrence of a higher-ranking celebration.[1][3]
Liturgical rank and canonical obligation
Every non-Sunday day named in canon 1246 §1 is celebrated as a solemnity in the General Roman Calendar, but solemnity and obligation are not synonyms. The calendar classifies a celebration's liturgical rank; canon law establishes whether the faithful are bound by a precept. Many solemnities are not additional holy days of obligation. Conversely, suppressing an obligation in a territory does not necessarily remove the celebration or reduce its liturgical rank there.[1][3]
This distinction is essential when a celebration is impeded or transferred. Liturgical precedence answers which Mass and Office are celebrated. Canonical discipline answers whether participation in Mass and festal rest are obligatory. A bulletin or encyclopedia should therefore record rank and obligation separately and should identify the territory and year rather than labeling every solemnity a holy day of obligation.[1][3]
Eastern Catholic boundary
Canon 1246 belongs to the Latin Code and must not be presented as the complete Catholic law for every Church sui iuris. Eastern Catholics are governed by the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, especially canons 880–883, together with the particular law and legitimate customs of their own Church sui iuris. The common Eastern list and the competent authority for establishing, transferring, or suppressing feast days are expressed in that distinct law.[4][5]
Eastern discipline also describes fulfillment in its own terms: participation in the Divine Liturgy or, according to the prescriptions or legitimate custom of the Church sui iuris, celebration of the divine praises. The period runs from the evening of the vigil to the end of the Sunday or feast day. The Latin list of ten annual celebrations and the conference faculty in canon 1246 §2 should therefore never be imposed mechanically upon Eastern Catholics. Catholic unity includes legitimate diversity of calendars, disciplines, and ritual expression.[4][5]
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.00 Back to citation occurrence 1.01 Back to citation occurrence 1.02 Back to citation occurrence 1.03 Back to citation occurrence 1.04 Back to citation occurrence 1.05 Back to citation occurrence 1.06 Back to citation occurrence 1.07 Back to citation occurrence 1.08 Back to citation occurrence 1.09 Back to citation occurrence 1.10 Code of Canon Law, canons 1244–1248 — Official English text governing competence over sacred days, the universal list in canon 1246, the obligations in canon 1247, and fulfillment in canon 1248.
- Back to citation Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2174–2188 — Authoritative teaching on Sunday, the Eucharistic precept, holy days, legitimate excuses, worship, joy, charity, and rest.
- Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Back to citation occurrence 3.2 Back to citation occurrence 3.3 Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, 4–7 and 59–61 — Universal Roman liturgical norms on Sunday, solemnities, precedence, occurrence, and transfer.
- Back to citation occurrence 4.0 Back to citation occurrence 4.1 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canons 880–883 — Official promulgated Latin text of the distinct Eastern Catholic discipline concerning feast days, days of obligation, worship, and territorial application.
- Back to citation occurrence 5.0 Back to citation occurrence 5.1 Congregation for the Eastern Churches, Instruction for Applying the Liturgical Prescriptions of the CCEO, 36–40 — Official instruction explaining feast days, holy days of obligation, particular law, divine worship, and preservation of Eastern patrimony.