New bi-ritual norms balance pastoral care and liturgical fidelity

NEW DELHI (Indian Catholic News) — India’s Latin Catholic bishops have issued new guidelines governing bi-ritual faculties, stressing they are a pastoral provision enabling priests to serve the faithful while remaining rooted in their own liturgical tradition.

Archbishop Antonysamy Savarimuthu of Madurai issued the July 11 guidelines after bishops raised questions at the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India‘s May executive meeting about the process for obtaining and using bi-ritual faculties.

Archbishop Savarimuthu, who is chairman of the CCBI’s Commission for Canon Law and Legislative Texts, said the guidelines draw on norms issued by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Eastern Churches in November 2024.

The circular explains that priests belonging to an Eastern Catholic Church may celebrate the sacraments according to another rite only after receiving “a special faculty from the Apostolic See.”

It cites the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, which states that “The minister should celebrate the sacraments according to the liturgical prescriptions of his own Church sui iuris, unless the law establishes otherwise or he himself has obtained a special faculty from the Apostolic See.”

The document says the rule underscores “the importance of fidelity to one’s own liturgical tradition while also providing for pastoral necessity through the granting of special faculties.”

Pastoral need, not personal preference

The guidelines emphasize that “the granting of bi-ritual faculties is considered a special concession of the Apostolic See and is not granted automatically.”

“The purpose of bi-ritualism is primarily pastoral: to ensure adequate sacramental and spiritual care for the faithful, especially where there exists a genuine pastoral need or a shortage of clergy,” the circular says. It adds that such faculties are “not intended for personal preference or devotional attraction toward another liturgical tradition.”

Priests seeking permission must submit a personal request explaining the pastoral reasons for celebrating according to another rite and identify the rite for which the faculty is sought. They must also obtain a formal request from the competent ecclesiastical authority and written consent from their own bishop or hierarch, the guidelines said.

The requesting authority must certify that ministry in another rite “will not compromise the priest’s primary obligations toward the faithful of his own Church sui iuris.”

Temporary faculties with clear limits

Once the required documentation is complete, it is forwarded to the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches for evaluation.

According to the guidelines, the dicastery grants faculties only “for a specific and justified pastoral purpose.” Normally, permission is granted ad tempus for a maximum of five years and may be renewed through a new request before the previous indult expires.

The circular also makes clear that receiving bi-ritual faculties does not change a priest’s ecclesial identity.

“The Dicastery further emphasizes that bi-ritual faculties do not constitute a transfer to another Church sui iuris or incorporation into another ecclesial tradition,” it says. “Rather, they are a pastoral provision enabling priests to serve the faithful more effectively while remaining fully rooted in and committed to their own Church and liturgical heritage.”

Read the guidelines.