Concelebration

Concelebration occurs in Eastern Christianity and has done for many centuries. In the Roman Catholic Church the practice fell into disuse for several centuries but was revived with the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council and as directed by the papal document . It is known from early Christian art uncovered through archaeology that concelebration took place in the Early Church in the West, although it is not known precisely when it fell into disuse. It is known that the practice gradually came to be reserved for the greater festival days and other solemn occasions. Columba of Iona, in the 6th century, is recorded to have been requested by a visiting Irish bishop in disguise to celebrate Mass with him. The Second Synod of Seville in 619 ordered that priests could not concelebrate Mass with a bishop or archbishop, or an apostolic administrator if he is a bishop, able to celebrate. According to Pope Innocent III () the cardinals in Rome still concelebrated with the pope on certain feast days. It is known that from the medieval period (particularly following the Black Death) up to the Second Vatican Council there were only two occasions when concelebration took place in the Roman Rite: • At the ordination of a priest, where the newly ordained concelebrated with the ordaining bishop, and; • At the consecration of a bishop, when the newly consecrated bishop concelebrated with the consecrating bishop. ==Contemporary practice==

Roman Catholic Church of Cardinal Joachim Meisner. The liturgical reforms following the Second Vatican Council provided for the return to the practice of concelebration of Mass: the Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy stated that Thus, communities with more than one priest could have several priests concelebrate the Eucharist rather than each celebrating it in private, emphasizing its communal nature. Liturgical law allows concelebration on any occasion, but it is more common on feasts, especially those at which the bishop traditionally presides, such as the Chrism Mass on Maundy Thursday. If a diocese or archdiocese is vacant and an apostolic administrator that is a bishop is not able to celebrate, a selected group of priests within the diocese will then concelebrate the feast with one of them being a principal celebrant. An article in of 2 October 2004 pointed out that the reintroduction of Eucharistic concelebration in the Latin Church was in line with the teaching of Pope Pius XII, who taught that the two "assistant bishops" at the consecration of a new bishop should speak all the words of consecration, thus indicating clearly that, instead of being merely witnesses, they were co-consecrating, concelebrating the sacrament of orders. He applied the same rule to concelebration of the Eucharist (at that time in use only at ordination to episcopacy and to priesthood) in his talk of 22 September 1956. Evangelical-Lutheran Churches priests concelebrating the Mass at Alsike Church, Sweden In the Evangelical-Lutheran Churches, concelebration occurs when more than one cleric celebrates the Mass. This occurs often when a bishop is visiting a congregation or if a priest from one congregation visits another. Anglican Communion Traditionally, concelebration was not practiced or permitted in Anglican churches. However, the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church directs other clergy to "stand with the celebrant at the Altar, and join in the consecration of the gifts, in breaking the Bread, and in distributing Communion". == Gallery ==

File:Koncelebration Kungsholms kyrka Annandag påsk.jpg|The concelebration of Easter Monday Mass by priests of the Church of Sweden at Kungsholm Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Stockholm, Sweden File:Budeč, imgp3869 (2015-09).jpg|The concelbration of Mass by priests of the Catholic Church in Budeč, Czech Republic ==References==