Part III

Sacred places are those which have been designated for divine worship or for the burial of the faithful through a dedication or blessing which the liturgical books prescribe for this purpose.

The dedication of any place is within the competency of the diocesan bishop and those who are equivalent to him in law; they can commission any bishop or, in exceptional cases, a presbyter to perform a dedication within their own territory.

Sacred places are blessed by an ordinary; the blessing of churches, however, is reserved to the diocesan bishop; but either one of these can delegate another priest for this purpose.

A document is to be drawn up attesting that the dedication or blessing of a church or the blessing of a cemetery has been performed; one copy is to be kept in the diocesan curia and another copy in the church's archive.

Provided no one suffers damage from it, the dedication or blessing of any place is sufficiently proven even through one witness who is above all suspicion.

Only those things which serve the exercise or promotion of worship, piety and religion are to be admitted into a sacred place; anything which is not in accord with the holiness of the place is forbidden. The ordinary, however, can permit other uses which are not contrary to the holiness of place, in individual instances.

Sacred places are violated through seriously harmful actions posited in them which scandalize the faithful and are so serious and contrary to the holiness of the place, in the judgment of the local ordinary, that it is not licit to perform acts of worship in them until the harm is repaired through a penitential rite in accord with the norm of the liturgical books.

Sacred places lose their dedication or blessing if they suffer major destruction or if they have been permanently given over to profane uses, de facto or through a decree of the competent ordinary.

Ecclesiastical authority freely exercises its powers and functions in sacred places.

The term church signifies a sacred building destined for divine worship to which the faithful have a right of access for divine worship, especially its public exercise.

§ 1.

No church is to be built without the expressed written consent of the diocesan bishop.

§ 2.

The diocesan bishop is not to furnish this consent unless (nisi) he judges that a new church could serve the good of souls and that the means necessary for building the church and for divine worship would not be lacking in the future; he is to make this judgment after listening to the presbyteral council and the rectors of neighboring churches.

§ 3.

Even religious institutes must obtain the permission of the diocesan bishop before they build a church in a certain and determined place even if they have received the consent of the diocesan bishop to establish a new house in the diocese or city.

The principles and norms of the liturgy and of sacred art are to be observed in the building and repair of churches; the advice of experts is also to be employed.

§ 1.

As soon as its construction is properly completed, a new church is to be dedicated or at least blessed as soon as possible, observing the laws of the sacred liturgy.

§ 2.

Churches, especially cathedral and parochial churches, are to be dedicated with a solemn rite.

Each church is to have its title which cannot be changed after its dedication.

All acts of divine worship can be performed in a church legitimately dedicated or blessed, with due regard for parochial rights.

§ 1.

All whose concern it is are to take care that such cleanliness and propriety is preserved in churches as befits the house of God and that anything which is out of keeping with the sanctity of the place is precluded.

§ 2.

Ordinary concern for preservation and appropriate security measures are to be used to protect sacred and precious goods.

Entrance to a church during the time of sacred celebrations is to be free and gratuitous.

§ 1.

If a church can in no way be employed for divine worship and it is impossible to repair it, it can be relegated to profane but not sordid use by the diocesan bishop.

§ 2.

Where other serious reasons suggest that a church no longer be used for divine worship the diocesan bishop, after hearing the presbyteral council, can relegate it to profane but not sordid use with the consent of those who legitimately claim rights regarding the church and as long as the good of souls is not thereby impaired.

The term oratory signifies a place designated by permission of the ordinary for divine worship for the benefit of some community or assembly of the faithful who gather there; other members of the faithful may also have access to it with the consent of the competent superior.

§ 1.

The ordinary is not to grant the permission required to establish an oratory unless (nisi) he first visits the place destined for the oratory himself or through another and finds it suitably constructed.

§ 2.

Once this permission is granted, however, the oratory cannot be converted to profane uses without the authority of the same ordinary.

All sacred celebrations can be carried out in oratories legitimately established unless (nisi) liturgical norms prevent this or the law or a prescription of the local ordinary has made certain exceptions.

The term private chapel signifies a place designated for divine worship for the advantage of one or several physical persons with the permission of the local ordinary.

Bishops can establish for themselves a private chapel which enjoys the same rights as an oratory.

With due regard for the prescription of can. 1227, the permission of the local ordinary is required for Mass and other sacred celebrations to take place in a private chapel.

It is fitting that oratories and private chapels be blessed according to the rite prescribed in the liturgical books; they must, however, be reserved only for divine worship and be free from all domestic uses.

The term shrine signifies a church or other sacred place to which the faithful make pilgrimages for a particular pious reason with the approval of the local ordinary.

For a shrine to be called a national one, the conference of bishops must approve; for it to be called an international one, the Holy See must approve.

§ 1.

The local ordinary is competent to approve the statues of a diocesan shrine; the conference of bishops for a national shrine; the Holy See alone for an international shrine.

§ 2.

These statutes are to determine especially the purpose of the shrine, the authority of its rector and the ownership and administration of goods.

Certain privileges can be granted to shrines as often as local circumstances, the large number of pilgrims and especially the good of the faithful seem to suggest it.

§ 1.

At shrines more abundant means of salvation are to be provided the faithful; the word of God is to be carefully proclaimed; liturgical life is to be appropriately fostered especially the celebration of the Eucharist and penance; and approved forms of popular piety are to be cultivated.

§ 2.

Votive gifts of popular art and piety are to be displayed in shrines or adjacent places and kept secure.

§ 1.

An altar or a table on which the Eucharistic Sacrifice is celebrated is said to be fixed if it is so constructed that it is joined to the floor and therefore cannot be moved; it is movable if it can be transferred.

§ 2.

It is fitting that there be a fixed altar in every church; in other places designated for sacred celebration, a fixed altar or a movable altar.

§ 1.

According to church custom the table of a fixed altar is to be of stone, in fact of a single natural stone, nevertheless, even another material, worthy and solid, in the judgment of the conference of bishops also can be used. The supports or the foundation can be made of any material.

§ 2.

A movable altar can be constructed from any solid material appropriate for liturgical use.

§ 1.

Fixed altars are to be dedicated; movable altars, however, are to be dedicated or blessed according to the rites prescribed in the liturgical books.

§ 2.

The ancient tradition of keeping the relics of martyrs and other saints under a fixed altar is to be preserved according to the norms given in the liturgical books.

§ 1.

An altar loses its dedication or blessing according to the norm of can. 1212.

§ 2.

Altars, be they fixed or movable, do not lose their dedication or blessing through the reduction of a church or other sacred place to profane uses.

§ 1.

Both a fixed and a movable altar are to be reserved exclusively for divine worship and entirely exempt from profane use.

§ 2.

No corpse may be buried beneath the altar; otherwise Mass may not be celebrated on it.

§ 1.

The Church is to have its own cemeteries wherever this can be done, or at least spaces in civil cemeteries destined for the faithful departed and properly blessed.

§ 2.

If however, this cannot be achieved, individual graves are to be properly blessed as often as needed.

§ 1.

Parishes and religious institutions can have their own cemetery.

§ 2.

Other juridic persons or families can also have their own particular cemetery or burial place to be blessed according to the judgment of the local ordinary.

Corpses are not to be buried in churches unless (nisi) it is a question of interring in their proper church the Roman Pontiff, cardinals or diocesan bishops, even those who are retired.

Particular law is to determine appropriate norms on the discipline to be observed in cemeteries, especially regarding the protecting and fostering of their sacred character.

§ 1.

It is within the competence of the supreme ecclesiastical authority alone to establish, transfer or abolish feast days or days of penance which are common to the universal Church, with due regard for the prescription of can. 1246,

§ 2.

§ 2. Diocesan bishops can determine special feast days or days of penance for their dioceses or places but only per modum actus.

With due regard for the right of diocesan bishops which is mentioned in can. 87, for a just reason and in accord with the prescriptions of the diocesan bishop, the pastor (parochus) in individual cases can dispense from the obligation to observe a feast day or a day of penance; or he can commute it to other pious works; the superior of a religious institute or a society of apostolic life of pontifical right if they are clerical can also do the same for his own subjects and others staying in his house day and night.

§ 1.

Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church. Also to be observed are Christmas, the Epiphany, the Ascension and Corpus Christi, Holy Mary Mother of God and her Immaculate Conception and Assumption, Saint Joseph, the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul, and finally, All Saints.

§ 2.

However, the conference of bishops can abolish certain holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday with prior approval of the Apostolic See.

On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass; they are also to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord's Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body.

§ 1.

The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day.

§ 2.

If because of lack of a sacred minister or for other grave cause participation in the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible, it is specially recommended that the faithful take part in the liturgy of the word if it is celebrated in the parish church or in another sacred place according to the prescriptions of the diocesan bishop, or engage in prayer for an appropriate amount of time personally or in a family or, as occasion offers, in groups of families.

All members of the Christian faithful in their own way are bound to do penance in virtue of divine law; in order that all may be joined in a common observance of penance, penitential days are prescribed in which the Christian faithful in a special way pray, exercise works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their responsibilities more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence according to the norm of the following canons.

All Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days and time throughout the universal Church.

Abstinence from eating meat or another food according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops is to be observed on Fridays throughout the year unless (nisi) they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence; all adults are bound by the law of fast up to the beginning of their sixtieth year. Nevertheless, pastors and parents are to see to it that minors who are not bound by the law of fast and abstinence are educated in an authentic sense of penance.

It is for the conference of bishops to determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence and to substitute in whole or in part for fast and abstinence other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety.