A Mass card is a card which indicates that a person, whether living or deceased, will be included in the
intentions at a specific
Catholic Mass or set of Masses. The donor makes a nominal donation to a
parish or monastery at which the Mass will be said, and presents the card to the person or, if deceased, their family.
The donation of a
Mass stipend for the celebration of a Mass goes back to the eighth century.
Mass cards are a more recent custom, with the term's first recorded use in 1930. The large number of requests for Mass cards sometimes poses a dilemma, since an individual Mass is supposed to be said to each card signed according to
canon law.
Typically, the diocese sets a minimum donation for Mass stipends, and donors are asked to cover this amount for expenses.
Mass cards are sometimes sold with a printed signature of an unaffiliated priest, without being linked to a specific priest or Mass being celebrated.
In Ireland, a section of the
Charities Act 2009
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definition of a ...
made it illegal to sell Mass cards without an arrangement with a Catholic
bishop or
provincial
Provincial may refer to:
Government & Administration
* Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country
* Provincial city (disambiguation)
* Provincial minister (disambiguation)
* Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...
, with conviction leading to a jail sentence of 10 years or a fine of up to €300,000.
The law was upheld in a constitutional challenge in 2009, in a case where one of Ireland's largest commercial Mass card sellers gave €100 each month to a canonically suspended priest in the
West Indies to say three Masses for about ten thousand people, until approval was withdrawn during litigation.
References
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Mass (liturgy)