children around the altar

children around the altar Question from on 06-09-2007:

At Sunday Mass the chldren of the parish bring up the gifts and then the priest allows them all to stay behind him during the consecration and until the Mass is over, is this permitted or is it an abuse? I spoke to other people about this and they said that the priests in their parishes also do that. Thank you

Answer by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on 06-19-2007:

Just because a lot of parishes do something does not mean that it is right. This is not permitted and is an abuse. The priest might be doing this out of good intentions, but good intentions are not a sufficient reason to adopt illicit practices.

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