The General Curia of the Dominicans expressed surprise over a booklet published by its order in the Netherlands recommending that laypeople be allowed to celebrate Mass when no ordained priests are available.In a written statement released by the Vatican September 18, the Dominicans' Rome-based leaders said that, while they "laud the concern of our brothers" over the shortage of priests, they did not believe "the solutions that they have proposed are beneficial to the church nor in harmony with its tradition."
But while the statement said Dominican leaders shared those same concerns it said they did "not believe that the method they (Dutch Dominicans) have used in disseminating" a booklet to all 1,300 parishes in the Netherlands was an appropriate way to discuss the issue.
An open dialogue about the availability of the Eucharist and the priestly ministry should be carried out through a "careful theological and pastoral reflection with the wider church and the Dominican order," the statement said.
"The booklet published by our Dutch brothers was a surprise to the General Curia of the Dominican order," it said.
In late August, the Dominicans in the Netherlands distributed a 38-page booklet, Church and Ministry, that proposed parishes in need of an ordained priest choose their own person to become the Mass presider.
The parish could then present such candidates -- "women or men, homo- or heterosexual, married or single" -- to the local bishop to ask that they be ordained, according to the booklet.
However, basing its recommendation on practices within the early church, the booklet said if the bishop chooses not to ordain the candidate -- for example, because the person cannot meet the requirements of celibacy -- then the elected candidate and the congregation could still feel assured that when they come together to "share bread and wine in prayer," they are still receiving a real and valid Eucharist, the Dutch Dominicans' website said.
"What is important is an infectious attitude of faith," the booklet said.
One of the booklet's authors, theologian and Dominican Father André Lascaris, confirmed that the order was suggesting the elected leader would be celebrating a Mass and consecrating bread and wine for parishioners.
The "magical moment" of transubstantiation when Christ becomes present in the sacrament can also occur when people come together prayerfully, since the priest's words of the consecration "are missing in the oldest prayers" of the early church, he told Catholic News Service by phone September 19 from Huissen, Netherlands.
Because of the priest shortage in the Netherlands, local church officials advise Catholics to drive to a nearby parish that has a priest, and some parishes have a Liturgy of the Word and a Communion service with preconsecrated hosts.
But Father Lascaris said a eucharistic service with preconsecrated hosts is like receiving "bread and wine from someone else's table."
He said to imagine going to a restaurant, "and you sit down and they bring you food from another restaurant" from a city far away.
Parishioners also want to celebrate together with a presider from their own community since a leader or priest is a member and "a servant of the community," he said.
He said Mass should not be "a method of power; we see it as a method of celebrating."
The Dutch Dominicans emphasised their proposals were meant for emergency situations when no local priest was available and a bishop refused to ordain a selected member of the community.
Father Lascaris told CNS he did not think publishing and distributing the booklet was inappropriate.
Barring the Dominicans from disseminating ideas would be "strange," as it would not be allowing them to talk to other people, to journalists or even to the Pope about suggestions on how to address the lack of priests available to celebrate Mass, Father Lascaris said.
The issue of priestly celibacy and the potential role of married priests came up at the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist in late 2005. Both synod participants and Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the obligation of celibacy for priests in the Latin rite.
The Pope's 2007 apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis ("The Sacrament of Charity") and his special November 2006 meeting with top Vatican officials reaffirmed the value of priestly celibacy.
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