Concelebration of the Holy Mass 50 Years after Sacrosanctum Concilium

Abstract

In the Latin Church concelebration of the Holy Mass was reintroduced by the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963). At first it could only be celebrated in special circumstances and with a bishop or his delegate as the principal celebrant. Gradually concelebration of the Holy Mass was becoming the usual form of celebration of the Eucharist when priests are not obliged to celebrate it for the good of the faithful. Rites of the concelebrated Holy Mass published in 1965 as Ritus servandus in concelebratione Missae were then included in Paul VI’s Missale Romanum in 1970. Detailed concelebration regulations are contained in General Instruction of the Roman Missal (1969, 1975, 2002) and in later documents issued by the Holy See. If the concelebration of the Holy Mass is presided over by a bishop, norms should be observed  that are contained in Ceremonial of Bishops’ Liturgical Service (1984, 2013). Liturgy of the concelebrated Holy Mass, in a way typical of it, shows and builds the unity of priesthood of the presbyters with the bishop and among the presbyters themselves; the unity of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ made to God on one altar; and the unity of the priestly God’s people that perform various services and functions in it.