FRAMINGHAM — Appeal Committee members continue to check on whether a Communion service at St. Jeremiah Church meets a Catholic’s weekly obligation to attend Sunday Mass after a canon lawyer told them it doesn’t.<\/p>\n
Charles M. Wilson, executive director of the Saint Joseph Foundation in San Antonio, told Appeal Committee co-Chairwoman Mary Beth Carmody this week that the consensus among foundation members is Mass is part of the weekly duty.<\/p>\n
"The Foundation believes that (Communion) services do not satisfy the obligation and has said so publicly on a number of occasions," said Wilson in an e-mail sent to the Daily News yesterday.<\/p>\n
Members at other parishes in vigil in the Archdiocese of Boston told the Appeal Committee that Communion services satisfy a Catholic’s obligation to attend Mass of Sunday, said Carmody.<\/p>\n
"I’m still trying to figure this whole thing out," she said. "I take this very seriously, and I want to find out the answer. I know it’s within canon law. The only question is whether it meets the weekly obligation."<\/p>\n
Last week, in a statement, Bishop Richard Lennon, the archdiocese’s vicar general, said under Church law all Catholics have an obligation to participate at Sunday Mass unless it is impossible for them to attend.<\/p>\n