Mass Intentions: Twentieth-Century Theology and Pastoral Reform [Part Two

Abstract

The question of Mass intentions received a good deal of theological scrutiny in the course of the twentieth century, especially in the work of Maurice de la Taille, Karl Rahner, and Edward Kilmartin. Each of these theologians criticized the widely accepted Scotist three-fold division of the fruits of the Mass. Combined with the post-Vatican II reform of the Catholic liturgy and further contemporary reflection in Eucharistic theology, these advances provide the basis for a proposal to re-think the practice of Mass intentions as well as monetary offerings (stipends) associated with them. [ Editor’s note: This is the second of two parts. This first was published in the December 2020 issue.]