When a holy day of obligation falls on a Sunday and so is transferred to another day, the Catholic faithful are encouraged to attend Mass, but they are not obliged to do so, the Vatican says. Source: Catholic Review.
The feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8 fell on the Second Sunday of Advent in 2024 and so, in most dioceses around the world, the feast was transferred to Monday, December 9.
Some bishops in the United States insisted the faithful still had a moral obligation to attend Mass on the feast day while others issued a formal dispensation from the obligation.
The Dicastery for Legislative Texts, in a September letter to Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, had said, “The feast must be observed as a day of obligation on the day to which it is transferred”.
But in a formal note dated January 23, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said it had consulted with the legislative texts office and determined that “in the event of the occasional transfer of a holy day of obligation, the obligation to attend Mass is not transferred”.
Every Sunday is a holy day of obligation because it is a commemoration of the death and resurrection of the Lord.
In Australia, the additional holy days when Catholics have a moral obligation to attend Mass are Christmas and the Assumption.
In other parts of the world, holy days of obligation include the feast of Mary, Mother of God; Epiphany; the Ascension; the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ; the feast of St. Joseph; the feast of Sts Peter and Paul; and the feast of All Saints.
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Vatican office clarifies rules for transferred holy days of obligation (CNS via Catholic Review)
