Hi Father, 

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter's, Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, celebrated the Pontifical Consecration and Mass according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 for their new chapel, Saints Peter and Paul Chapel.

Of this event the Lincoln Journal Star (www.journalstar.com) wrote, "Consecration is rare, Bruskewitz said. Most churches are blessed and dedicated. But this seminary is important to carrying on the ancient traditions of the Catholic Church."

What is the difference between consecration and bless & dedicated?  Do you know if our church was consecrated or bless & dedicated?

Thank you very much for your help on this.

Gary

Gary,

There is some ambiguity in the use of the terms consecration, dedication and blessing. The quote attributed to Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz demonstrates this. Consecration appears to be a term more commonly used under the ancient use of the Roman Rite as well as the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Today the modern Roman Rite and the 1983 Code of Canon law seems to prefer the term dedication. The terms consecration and dedication both refer to the setting aside of a person or object exclusively for God and his service. Blessing is a lesser act. The current Roman Ritual and Pontifical as well as the General Instruction of the Roman Missal do not use the term consecration but do make the distinction between dedicating and blessing. Churches permanently set aside for the celebration of divine mysteries should be dedicated. Private oratories, chapels (not parish churches-a canonical distinction) or other sacred edifices only temporarily set aside for private worship are to receive a blessing. The General Instruction makes the distinction that Cathedrals and parish churches are to be dedicated with a solemn rite. While there appears in both the old and new code to be only a distinction between consecration/dedication and blessing I suppose there is the possibility of a consecration/dedication that can be done on a more solemn scale than normal in special circumstances.

As to whether Sacred Heart, which was built in 1915, is consecrated or blessed we would have to look at the 1917 Code of Canon Law which for the most part merely collated pre-existing legislation. Canon 1165.3 of the 1917 Code of Canon  Law states, "Cathedral churches should be dedicated by solemn consecration as should, insofar as this is possible, collegiate, conventual and parish churches." Canon 1165.4 states, "Churches [made] of wood, iron, or another metal can be blessed but not consecrated." Since Sacred Heart is a parish church and not made primarily of wood or metal then it was most likely consecrated. 

Fr. Pisut