The Bishop of Santa Rosa has ordered an immediate halt to Communion services in his diocese where a priest is not present, saying such services are “not consistent with the Instructions from the Holy See”.
Bishop Robert Vasa told Catholics in his Californian diocese that the services must cease as of August 1, citing an Instruction from the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments issued in 2004. The Instruction says that diocesan bishops “should not easily grant permission” for Communion Services without a priest to be held on weekdays “especially in places where it was possible or would be possible to have the celebration of Mass on the preceding or the following Sunday.”
