What happens when you have an obligation to go to Mass, but the weather outside is wild?

What happens when you have an obligation to go to Mass, but the weather outside is wild?

This year has been a year of wild weather, what with the Beast from the East hitting the British Isles, hurricanes hitting the east coast of the USA, and typhoons hitting South-east Asia.

Catholics are obliged to participate in the Mass on Sundays and other holy days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason or dispensed by their pastor. Those who deliberately fail to meet this obligation commit a grave sin.

So what are the faithful to do when wild weather hits? Does wild weather excuse one from participating in the Sunday Mass? Does the Catholic Church have an inclement weather policy? This question is particularly important to those of the faithful who live in locations vulnerable to hurricanes, tornadoes, and typhoons.

The question is also especially relevant at the moment, given that within the last month we have seen hurricane Florence wreaking havoc on the east coast of the USA and a typhoon wreaking destruction in South-east Asia.

Of course, the Church doesn’t expect us to do anything we cannot do and pastors have even been known to cancel Masses due to inclement weather. In some areas, especially those prone to wild weather, dioceses have even produced pastoral guidelines for Sunday Masses during wild weather.

The Diocese of Macau, for instance, which has been badly hit by the recent typhoons, has pastoral guidelines which urge: “When typhoon signal No. 8 (or above) has been raised or a rainstorm warning has been issued, the faithful should heed the advisories just like the general public, stay indoors, and avoid outdoor activities.” They add that whilst “the faithful are not required to attend Sunday Mass” in such circumstances, they “are still required to perform other goods works, such as reading the Bible at home (preferably the Sunday readings) or praying the Rosary.”

They add that when typhoon signal No. 8 has been raised “the churches will not open, whether it be a Sunday or a weekday” and “church authorities will not be held responsible” for any accident or injury that results from disregard of their guidelines.

Similarly, when bad weather hit Ireland in March this year the Archdiocese of Dublin released a statement saying: “Where weather conditions make it unsafe or where road conditions make it dangerous, imprudent or difficult, there is no obligation to attend Sunday Mass,” but adds the recommendation that people unable to attend Mass should “view or listen to the Mass on-line, on television or radio or that they spend a time in prayer as individuals or as a family.”

In their recommendations for the faithful to do pious works when they cannot get to Mass, it would appear that both dioceses have taken their lead from Pope John Paul II, who in his 1998 encyclical Dies Domini, advises that “the faithful who…are prevented from taking part, should as best they can unite themselves with the celebration of Sunday Mass from afar, preferably by means of the readings and prayers for that day from the Missal, as well as through their desire for the Eucharist.” He notes that in many countries “radio and television make it possible to join in the Eucharistic celebration broadcast from some sacred place” and that whilst this does not fulfil the Sunday Mass obligation it is “a precious help” for “those who cannot take part in the Eucharist and who are therefore excused from the obligation” (Dies Domini, n. 54).

The overwhelming consensus is that bad weather conditions do excuse the faithful from participating in Sunday Mass, but that the faithful are recommended (if not obliged) to compensate through alternate pious works at home such as praying the Rosary or reading the Bible.