On October 2, Bishop Jeffrey Walsh, 60, of Gaylord, Michigan, issued a decree restricting the celebration of the Mass towards the Lord. It takes effect on October 15.
Under the new rules, all Sunday and holy day Masses must be read - like a talk or show - facing the people.
On weekdays, no more than two Masses per parish may be celebrated ad orientem, and only after consultation with the parish council and appropriate catechesis.
Weddings, funerals, and other Masses with congregations must also be celebrated facing the people.
Masses according to the 1962 Missal are exempt.
The bishop invokes paragraph 299 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), claiming it favors celebration versus populum.
However, the text of GIRM 299 does NOT require Mass to be celebrated facing the people. It recommends a freestanding altar that can be walked around to incense it with a thurible and permits celebration versus populum. It does not prohibit ad orientem worship.
Indeed, the Novus Ordo Missal itself presupposes occasions when the priest must turn toward the people - precisely because he is expected to otherwise face the altar.
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