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Q. The recent feast of the Chair of St. Peter made we wonder if such a chair exists, or it just a symbol of Peter’s authority? — M.D., Florida.
A. Both, according to an article by Jimmy Akin of Catholic Answers. There is in fact a physical chair of St. Peter, known as Cathedra Petri, that can be found at the back of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This chair, which has been repaired and refurbished many times over the centuries, is about three feet wide and four feet, seven inches high. It is made of oak and the wood is worm-eaten and missing pieces that were cut from various spots, probably for relics. Four iron rings, intended for carrying poles, are set into the legs. In the seventeenth century, Pope Alexander VII commissioned the architect Bernini to enclose the chair in a great bronze throne supported by the statues of Saints Augustine, Ambrose, John Chrysostom, and Athanasius.
At a general audience on February 22, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the spiritual authority symbolized by the chair:
“This is a very ancient tradition, proven to have existed in Rome since the fourth century. On it we give thanks to God for the mission He entrusted to the Apostle Peter and his successors. ‘Cathedra’ literally means the established seat of the bishop, placed in the mother church of a diocese which for this reason is known as a ‘cathedral.’ It is the symbol of the bishop’s authority and, in particular, of his ‘magisterium,’ that is, the evangelical teaching which, as a successor of the Apostles, he is called to safeguard and to transmit to the Christian community.”
The Holy Father said that “the See of Rome, after St. Peter’s travels, thus came to be recognized as the See of the Successor of Peter, and its bishop’s ‘cathedra’ represented the mission entrusted to him by Christ to tend His entire flock….Celebrating the ‘Chair’ of Peter, therefore, as we are doing today, means attributing a strong spiritual significance to it and recognizing it as a privileged sign of the love of God, the eternal Good Shepherd, who wanted to gather His whole Church and lead her on the path of salvation.”
When a Pope issues an infallible statement defining for all time some matter of faith and morals, he is said to have spoken ex cathedra, that is, “from the Chair” of Peter. This is a figurative expression since he does not have to be actually sitting on Peter’s Chair to issue a definitive statement binding all Catholics to adhere to some doctrine or dogma, such as the Immaculate Conception in 1854, the Assumption in 1950, and the reservation of the priesthood to men in 1994.
Q. In March of last year, the bishop of San Diego suspended public Masses and Confessions and dispensed with the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday due to the China virus. In recent months, our parish in Escondido has resumed public Masses outdoors and with physical distancing and masks. As far as I know, Bishop McElroy’s order is still in effect and has not been modified or changed. So are we still not obligated to attend Sunday Mass? What about those who have been vaccinated? What about the elderly who have been vaccinated, but have underlying medical conditions that make the virus more dangerous for them? — J.T.C., California.
A. First of all, regardless of the current situation, persons with underlying medical conditions are not obligated to attend Mass if there is a chance that their health could be compromised by exposure to others attending church.
Second, we don’t know the status of Bishop McElroy’s original order; you would have to contact his office to find out whether it still applies to the faithful in general or to those who have been vaccinated.
What we do know is that bishops are, in the words of canon 835, “promoters and custodians of the whole liturgical life of the church committed to them.” Canon 838 §4 says that “it pertains to the diocesan bishop in the church entrusted to him, within the limits of his competence, to issue liturgical norms by which all are bound.”
So Bishop McElroy had the authority to dispense with the obligation of the faithful in his diocese to attend Sunday Mass in a time of pandemic. Whether it was the most prudent decision, or whether it could have been modified, is open to debate. Writing in the February 13, 2021 issue of the National Catholic Register, Msgr. Charles Pope of Washington, D.C., expressed the view that many bishops went beyond what secular authorities were mandating, completely suspending public Masses when governors were permitting gatherings of anywhere from 10 to 250 people.
“Why was this done?” he asked. “If only 10 were permitted, then we should have celebrated Masses for 10 people, especially the most devout daily Mass attendees. Why close down entirely?” Even more egregiously, he continued, “some pastors were instructed to lock their church entrances, barring the public from entering even for private prayer. Some bishops directed that Holy Communion and Confession were not to be extended to anyone under any circumstances. They went far beyond what civil mandates required.”
By canceling Mass and denying Holy Communion and Confession for such an extended time, said Msgr. Pope, who nearly died from COVID himself last year, “we seemed to send the message that our bodies are more important than our souls. While it may have been reasonable to suspend large gatherings, we did not try hard enough to provide access to the sacraments in other ways.” He said that “whatever your views on these matters and the degree to which they were necessary, they surely manifest an intense focus on the bodily threat of COVID-19. Would that people everywhere had such focus on the disease of sin and the deadly and eternal effects of mortal sin.”
The monsignor also expressed concern about those Catholics who became very comfortable with televised Masses and who may not be in any hurry to return to church. “If the plague were to end tomorrow,” he said, “I am doubtful that 100 percent would suddenly return. Many got the message loud and clear: Sacraments just aren’t that important.”
All of this concession to the secular culture by our bishops reminded us of a warning issued about ten years ago by the late archbishop of Chicago, Francis Cardinal George, OMI (1937-2015). Speaking to a group of priests, the cardinal said afterwards that “I was trying to express in overly dramatic fashion what the complete secularization of our society could bring.”
Here are his famous words:
“I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison, and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the Church has done so often in human history.”
These words did not seem all that frightening when they were first spoken, but they seem rather ominous now in the light of what has happened so quickly in America in the past year, and especially in light of the plans of the Biden administration and its fellow travelers to crack down on religious practice and to censor and punish those who disagree with the prevailing “wisdom” on abortion, traditional marriage, and transgender issues.
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