(ZENIT News / Rome, 11.02.2025).- On December 12, 2024, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the Pope’s Vicar for the Diocese of Rome (Diocese of which the Pope is the Titular Bishop), issued an “Explanatory Note” regarding the faculties to preach and hear Confessions in the territory of the Diocese of Rome during the Jubilee, which began on December 24, 2024 and will end on January 6, 2026. The context of the Note is as follows: many are the priests that come to Rome on pilgrimage, usually accompanying groups of pilgrims and, therefore, have the opportunity to administer the Sacraments of the Eucharist and of Reconciliation, in addition to the exercise of preaching. Normally, to exercise those faculties in the territory of the Diocese in which the priest resides, the authorization of his Bishop is necessary to do so and, when the priest visits a different Diocese, according to the local norms, he must also be authorized by the Bishop of the Diocese visited, which in this case is Rome.
Following is ZENIT’s translation into English of Cardinal Baldassare Reina’s Explanatory Note.
* * *
Every Holy Year of the Catholic Church is, first of all, a pastoral opportunity. Pilgrims coming to Rome during the Jubilee of 2025 must be guaranteed both the possibility to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation ”so that no one is deprived of the possibility to receive God’s forgiveness and reconciliation” (Spes Non Confundit, n. 23), as well as to drink from the fountain of living and vivifying water, which is the Word of God. The Church responds to these pastoral needs through the service of the priests: of the incardinated in the Diocese of Rome, of those that habitually carry out their pastoral service there, but also of those that accompany pilgrims. To dispel any doubt about the faculties to preach and to hear Confessions in the Diocese of Rome during the Jubilee 2025, a summary has been considered useful of the of the normative applicable in this regard:
1.The universal law establishes that clerics enjoy the faculty to preach anywhere, which must be exercised with the consent, at least presumed, of the Rector of the church, unless in particular circumstances something else is arranged (cf. cc.764 CCC and 610 § 2-3 CCEO).
2.In regard to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the presbyters that enjoy the faculty of habitually hearing Confessions, either in virtue of their office or in virtue of a concession of the Ordinary of the place of incardination or of residence, can exercise the same faculty everywhere, unless the Ordinary of the place has prohibited it in a particular case (cf. 967 § 2 CCC and 722 § 4 CCEO).
3.Decree n. 120/00 of the Vicariate of Rome, of February 20, 2000, regulates the way of exercising the faculty of hearing Confessions by priests that are in Rome for different motives:
(a)The diocesan priests and men religious whose domicile or quasi-domicile is in Rome and habitually exercise their ministry there, as long as they are endowed with the faculty in virtue of the concession of the Ordinary of the place, can exercise this ministry in the Diocese of Rome; nevertheless, they must present the documentation that accredits the possession of the faculty in question and obtain from the Vicariate of Rome the document that certifies that the Ordinary of Rome has verified their situation.
b)The diocesan presbyters that reside in Rome for a period of time equal or superior to three months or, in any case, with the intention to stay there at least during this period, but that do not habitually exercise their ministry in the Diocese, if they enjoy the faculty of habitually hearing Confessions, can also exercise it in the Diocese of Rome, however, the Ordinary of Rome can establish that in particular cases they are subject to the discipline provided for those that have their domicile or quasi-domicile in the Diocese of Rome.
c)The diocesan priests and men religious who exercise their ministry occasionally in Rome, for a very limited period of time (for example, those that accompany pilgrims or, in any case, are passing by), have the faculty and exercise it in the measure in which it has been recognized to them by concession of the Ordinary of their place of incardination or of domicile.
d)The parish priests or, failing that, the presbyters that are permanent collaborators, as well as the Rectors, are obliged to verify the position of the presbyters that exercise the ministry, including occasionally, in the churches and oratories entrusted to them, in regard to the exercise of these faculties in the Diocese of Rome, as already provided in can . 903 CCC about the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist. All the presbyters mentioned in the letters a) – c) of this note are obliged to give proof of it with a valid and recent document in case this is requested by the incumbents mentioned.
4)Hence, the Decree interprets and applies the universal law, but without depriving the presbyters of their faculties, given that those that possess them can exercise them in Rome. However, those that intend to stay there permanently and exercise a habitual ministry, will have to regularize their situation with the Vicariate of Rome-Ufficio Clero. Instead, those that are deprived of the faculty for any reason (penal, disciplinary, pastoral) will not be able to exercise them not even in the Diocese of Rome.
Translation of the Italian original into Spanish by ZENIT’s Editorial Director and, into English, by Virginia M. Forrester.
